Miss Asia Pageant

Miss Asia Pageant
Formation1985; 39 years ago (1985)
TypeBeauty pageant
Location
Official language
Chinese, English
Parent organization
Asia Television
Websitewww.missasia.com.hk
Miss Asia Pageant
Traditional Chinese亞洲小姐競選
Simplified Chinese亚洲小姐竞选
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinYàzhōu Xiǎojie Jìngxuǎn
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingaa3 zau1 siu2 ze2 ging3 syun2

ATV Miss Asia Pageant (Chinese: ATV 亞洲小姐競選) is an annual Hong Kong–based beauty pageant organized and broadcast by Asia Television (ATV). Originating in 1985 as a local Hong Kong pageant, the contest went on a hiatus from 2000 through 2003, and was re-branded as an Asian pageant in 2004, with contestants spanning the continent of Asia. The pageant was ceased to exist in 2015 with the shutdown of its organizer, ATV.

In 2018, ATV announced that they are rebooting the pageant, after their transition from a terrestrial broadcast operation to an online media company.[1] The pageant, which will be partnered with South Korean company CJ E&M, was reported by the media as "ATV's biggest investment of the year".[2]

History

1985–2000: Beginnings as local pageant

With the success of the Miss Hong Kong Pageant by rival Hong Kong television station Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB), ATV started organizing Miss Asia Pageant in 1985, searching out Hong Kong's representative for Miss Asia Pacific International (then known as the Miss Asia Pacific Quest). The pageant name was a bit of a misnomer back then as Miss Asia Pageant was actually named to match the name of organizer Asia Television Limited, and it was solely intended for local Hong Kong residents to enter.

In 1995, the pageant made history by removing age restrictions for delegates.[3] That year, Aicardi Jiang (宮雪花), at the age of 47 years became the oldest delegate of Miss Asia, placing fifth in the pageant. On the other end of the spectrum, On-Yuen To (陶安仁), was the youngest delegate at the age of 15 years.[4]

In 2000, due to poor ratings and lack of sponsors, ATV announced that the pageant would go on hiatus until further notice.

2000–present: Post-hiatus and rebrands

In 2004, ATV rebooted the pageant and re-branded it as an event for not just Hong Kong, but also for the rest of Asia as contestants from other parts of Asia now participate, finally living up to its namesake as an Asia-wide pageant.[5] However, the pageant is still very Chinese focused, with multiple representatives from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China, compared to one contestant from each of the rest of the countries.

As of 2011, Miss Asia Chinese Regional Competitions selects Chinese delegates in several regions: Hong Kong, Macau, Mainland China, Taiwan, Canada, and US. Then, the top performers of these competitions come together for the ATV Miss Asia Pageant Greater China Finals, which also acts as the semi-finals of the ATV Miss Asia Pageant, selecting around 10 finalists (12 finalists are selected in 2013).[3] These delegates are then joined by national pageant winners from other Asian countries to compete the crown of ATV Miss Asia at the Finals.

In 2011, the pageant name has been modified to ATV Miss Asia Pageant (ATV亞洲小姐競選), adding the organizer's name to the title, to distinguish it from other Asia-wide beauty pageants.[3]

Whereas the pageant mirrored Miss Hong Kong Pageant pre-hiatus, the revived version more closely resembled the Miss Chinese International Pageant, which is also organized by rival television station, TVB.

In 2018, ATV rebooted the whole project after the company was transformed into an online media company.[6]

Miss Asia Canada Pageant

Miss Asia Canada, previously known as ATV Miss Asia Toronto Pageant in 2006 to 2022, is an annual beauty pageant organized by ATV and RST Creative Studios that selects Toronto's representative(s) for the annual ATV Miss Asia Pageant that is held in Hong Kong. Despite ATV's cessation of terrestrial broadcasting in Hong Kong – and by extension, the end of the ATV and the ATV Miss Asia Pageant – Miss Asia Canada founded by Producer/Director Tony Jorge has registered as a National Pageant in Canada in 2015. In 2023 RST Creative Studios formed a new pageant organization called GEM Group (Global Entertainment Management Group) operating independently the future of the partnership remains unclear as ATV no longer has jurisdiction over their former franchisee, ATV has not yet secured a new long-term partnership with the new pageant organization known as GEM Group as the future of ATV remains unclear. Miss Asia Canada is currently partners with Miss Asia Global based in India, Miss Asia International based out of the USA, Miss Supertalent of the World based out of Korea, and Miss Cosmopolitan based out of Malaysia.

Year Winner 1st Runner-up 2nd Runner-up Miss Photogenic
2006 Judy Tsang 曾敏
2007 Jessica Wong 黃礎瑩 王爽 陳詠虹
2008 Belinda Yan 顏子菲 Julie Fan 譚麗思 Doris Tam 范冰一
2009 An Sheng 盛安 Marilyn Lin 林雅麗 Carol Zuo 左亮 An Sheng 盛安
2010 Lucy Qi 祁翼 Cleone Ye 葉小寒 吳皓
2011 Jolene Berude 裘琳 Janet Lam 林珍娜 Josi Gao 林珍娜
2012 Mary Tan 陳瑪莉 Jess McKenzie 謝莤嘉·麥堅斯 Joanna Yu
2013 Diana Duong 董安娜 Angela Liang 梁詩韻 Kushi Gupta
2014 Sunpreet Dhaliwal 辛珮·達利禾 May Tong 唐淑薇 Rowena Zhang
2015 Tracy Le-Nguye Sudupta Das Lisa Nguyen
2016 Jae Hee Mun Fei Fei Li Diana Rao
2017 Leona Liu Megan Soo Jennele Giong
2018 Julia Yang 楊鈺 Lily Park Angelina Liang
2019 Ava Khajeh Genevieve Zhou (Disqualify) Shayna Ding 丁雪怡
2020 Jimin Yoo Tiffany Lam Sarah Wang
2021 Cierra Johnson Kayla Ko Patty Chomseng
2022 Anna-Marie Ondaatje Wing Hu 胡永諭 Marion Jubelle Anna-Marie Ondaatje

See also

References

  1. ^ 翁漢瓏 (14 June 2018). "《亞洲小姐》睽違四年再度舉行 佳麗質素可有保證?". 香港01 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  2. ^ "【馮仁昭四圍超】亞視揼本搞亞姐何麗全:全年最大投資". Apple Daily 蘋果日報. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  3. ^ a b c "ATV Miss Asia Pageant History" (in Chinese). Asia Television Limited. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  4. ^ "Miss Asia 95 – No Age Restriction". Oriental Daily Hong Kong (in Chinese). On.cc. 2007. Archived from the original on 28 January 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  5. ^ "Miss Asia Pageant 2008 – Pageant Information" (in Chinese). Asia Television Limited. Archived from the original on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  6. ^ "亞姐停辦三年「復活」 港姐向海嵐跨台支持 - 香港文匯報". paper.wenweipo.com (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 3 August 2018.