1973-2023, where is "Miss Hong Kong"
In the Miss Hong Kong 1977 pageant, Zhu Lingling won the championship (third from left), Lui Ruirong (second from left) and Yu Qixia (fourth from left) won the second runner-up (Visual China/Photo)
A new beginning
On June 10, 2023, the first round of interviews for the 51st Miss Hong Kong Contest hosted by TVB (TVB Hong Kong) was held. At the beginning of 2023, customs clearance between Hong Kong and the mainland resumed in full, and exchanges blocked by the new crown epidemic finally resumed. This is the first Miss Hong Kong contestant after customs clearance, and many faces from the mainland appeared among the 89 candidates. After two rounds of interviews, the remaining 26 candidates entered the recording of the "final interview", nearly half of whom were from the mainland. In this regard, the headline of the Hong Kong media report was "Crossing the River to Hong Kong to Challenge Hong Kong Women to Compete for the Crown".
There are two mandatory requirements for the Miss Hong Kong 2023 campaign: unmarried women aged 17-27 without children; Hold a Hong Kong Identity Card – permanent or non-permanent resident status. Therefore, Hong Kong drifters who have lived in the mainland since childhood but have Hong Kong nationality, or come to Hong Kong to study and work, have the opportunity to run for "Hong Kong sister".
Grace, a staff member of TVB's Miss Hong Kong program, told me that many mainland girls had come to participate in the contest before, and the 2011 contestant Zhu Chenli studied in Hong Kong as a mainlander and won the championship after signing up. The 89 candidates for the first round in 2023 were selected from more than 1,000 applications, "After the full resumption of customs clearance, it is much easier to travel between the two places, and the proportion of mainland candidates this year is indeed higher." According to her observations, some mainland candidates are themselves bloggers or Internet celebrities, and running for Miss Hong Kong has become a way to "check in". "They use the Hong Kong sister election as a way to attract traffic."
One of them, a contestant with the screen name 33, filmed the audition process into a vlog and uploaded it to social platforms, complaining that the waiting time for the audition was too long (from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.), the air conditioning was too cold, and she didn't eat or drink. The video was reproduced by several Hong Kong media. When she participated in the second round of audition interviews, the interviewer explained to her one by one according to the content of the video, asking her to "tell the staff what is not good". 33 failed to make it to the final interview, but she posted 9 vlogs of her experience in participating in the Miss Hong Kong contest, and the retweet and like data performed well on her social account. Some netizens commented on her "rubbing hot spots", and she replied: "Yes, that's right, I just want to rub hot spots." Do self-media, the hot spot of Miss Hong Kong in front of me, don't I chase it? ”
The finalist Wang Yiran is also a blogger, and she uploaded a video of her journey after the first round of auditions, which received 8,500 likes.
The relevant videos, graphics and text posts uploaded by some participating bloggers on social platforms objectively played a role in promoting the spread of this year's Miss Hong Kong.
TVB assistant general manager Le Yiling said in an interview that the threshold of "Hong Kong sister" will not be set as a native of Hong Kong, "The first round of interviews will not set a threshold, the most important thing is that it is not beautiful." ”
The "Final Interview" was broadcast, and most of the mainland contestants were around 22 years old, not fluent in Cantonese, and their growth stage was not completely in Hong Kong. Since January 1, 2002, the "Hong Kong Tour" quota on the mainland has been officially abolished, and a "Hong Kong generation" has emerged - children born in Hong Kong to parents from the mainland and born in Hong Kong since 2001 have automatically obtained Hong Kong status, which Hong Kong scholars call "TYPE II Babies". According to Nandu Weekly, between 2001 and 2008, the number of "Hong Kong students" increased from 620 to 25,000.
According to the Immigration Department of the HKSAR Government, in 2008, the number of mainland student visas issued by the Hong Kong Immigration Department was 6,288, and since then it has increased, exceeding 30,000 in 2019 and 37,807 in 2021. In 2022, a spokesperson for the University of Hong Kong said that more than 15,000 mainland students applied to HKU with their gaokao and other examination results, a significant increase from the previous year. The number of mainland college entrance examination applicants from Lingnan University and Hong Kong Baptist University increased by 60% and 50% respectively.
With the "Hong Kong generation" entering the election age and the increasing number of mainland students studying in Hong Kong, the more frequent appearances of mainland girls in the Miss Hong Kong contest after the new crown epidemic have also been plausible.
On 23 July, this year's Miss Hong Kong contestants embarked on a four-day GBA publicity campaign, visiting many characteristic buildings in the GBA and tasting local delicacies to better understand the GBA culture. At the same time, the contestants were interviewed by a number of Greater Bay Area media in batches.
In addition, in order to strengthen the publicity of Miss Hong Kong in the mainland, TVB has set up a column for this year's Miss Hong Kong in its official Mainland app "Bury the Piles", which contains the latest and exclusive relevant content. At the same time, TVB has also opened voting channels on multiple social platforms.
This year's Miss Hong Kong contestant has also innovated in the format, replacing the former "semi-final" with a "final interview" session, and the 18 contestants who passed the "final interview" (two later withdrawn) will appear on the final stage on August 27 to compete for the crown of Miss Hong Kong. During the competition, TVB tried to record the schedule of the contestants in the form of a reality show, making makeup training, manners training, and external shooting into a reality show, in addition to making the talent display into a card segment, and broadcasting the meeting with the media, swimsuit show, etc.
In 1979, Cheng Man Ah (middle) won the Miss Hong Kong contest. She is also the prototype for the Hong Kong Film Awards trophy (Visual China/Photo)
Miss Hong Kong has a tradition of shooting locations abroad, but in recent years she has been forced to stay in Hong Kong due to the coronavirus pandemic. In 2022, I originally planned to resume filming abroad, but in the end, due to the heating up of the local epidemic, I was forced to change to Discovery Bay in Hong Kong. This year's location is Vietnam. Grace said: "In previous years, the economy may have been affected by the pandemic, but this year if you look at the end of the show, you will see that there are significantly more sponsors. ”
There is once a saying that what best represents Hong Kong is not the clock tower in Tsim Sha Tsui, not the old liner pavilion in Victoria Peak, not Ocean Park, nor the Rich Nightclub, but Miss Hong Kong.
Towards the 51st year, "Miss Hong Kong" has attracted better faces than before in the "timing" after the epidemic and the "favorable location" of the development of the Greater Bay Area, and seems to have ushered in "people". All indications are that Miss Hong Kong has reached a new starting point.
If you extend the timeline, several important points in the history of the Miss Hong Kong contest have a similar atmosphere.
In 1946, Hong Kong had just emerged from the devastation of World War II. The newspaper at the time read: "With the advent of peace, it is very necessary to find some fun, light, or romantic atmosphere to temper the nerves that have been tense for several years of war." In order to get people out of the shadow of war as soon as possible, on June 23 of that year, the Hong Kong Amateur Swimming Team and the British Air Force Club jointly held the International Charity Open Swimming Championship and held the first beauty pageant in Retiro Gardens. Participants are required to be 16-60 years old and have a swimsuit. Of the 117 people who applied, only 11 people appeared in the final campaign, some from the dance hall and the wind moon field. Wearing swimsuits and white shoes, the contestants walked back and forth three times on the springboard of the diving platform, and were scored by the judges. Li Lan won the championship and became the first "Miss Hong Kong". The competition attracted a large number of onlookers.
From then until 1973, the Miss Hong Kong election was irregular, and different organizers were scattered and "confused" for 10 sessions. During this period, the competition, like the life of the people at that time, rose up after the war and survived in the wavering.
In 1972, TVB invested extraordinary human and financial resources to set up the "Miss Hong Kong" preparatory group, painstakingly prepared for a year, and held the first Miss Hong Kong election sponsored by TVB on June 24, 1973, and "equal emphasis on beauty and wisdom" became the campaign slogan.
The contestants participated in the competition, received professional training in etiquette, makeup skills, stage and so on, the TV station invested heavily in resources to strengthen the effect of the program, and finally the competition was presented to the audience in the form of live broadcast, making the image of Miss Hong Kong more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. After TVB took over, the Miss Hong Kong contest was supported by many sponsors, and the scale of the competition was larger, which also brought huge economic benefits to TVB. "The Miss Hong Kong election has become a Hong Kong beauty pageant with a fixed time and a fixed organizer."
In the same year that TVB took over the Miss Hong Kong contest, in order to stimulate the economy, the Hong Kong government announced the lifting of foreign exchange controls, and in the following five years, it successively introduced measures such as opening the gold market (freedom of gold import and export), establishing a commodity futures market, liberalizing the conditions for foreign banks to set up branches in Hong Kong, and opening up banking licenses, and completely realized the freedom of capital entry and exit from 1978 to 1982. Hong Kong's per capita GDP increased from less than US$1,000 in 1970 to US$5,600 in 1983, making it a veritable "free port" and one of the four Asian tigers.
The Miss Hong Kong election stood at the forefront of the times and ushered in a prosperous period.
In 1982, Zhao Yazhi starred in the TV series "Fuxing Gaozhao". In 1973, she participated in the Miss Hong Kong contest and won the fourth place (Visual China/Photo)
Miss Hong Kong 1983 Runner-up Maggie Cheung (Visual China/Photo)
Heavy posterior crown
According to "Hong Kong 01", the 2023 Miss Hong Kong back crown will be embellished with diamonds and rubies, and the top three crowns will be worth a total of 3 million Hong Kong dollars. After three years, the value of the back crown exceeded one million again. In 2019, the jewelry company that had been making the crown for Miss Hong Kong for many years withdrew its sponsorship, and the high crown became history.
In 1995, the Miss Hong Kong contest received its first sponsorship, and the winner Yeung Yuen Yee had a back crown made of 18K white gold and 1197 South African diamonds. Since then, the value of the crown has risen all the way, reaching a peak in 2015 and 2016. According to Hong Kong media reports, the 2015 winner Mak Mingshi's diamond crowns are worth more than 4.28 million Hong Kong dollars, each with 30 carats and about 880 diamonds.
The Miss Hong Kong contests in 1946, 1947 and 1948 only presented the winner with a silver trophy, and in 1952 there was a crown coronation ceremony, and the crown shape on Judy's head of that year was a combination of elements such as the year "1952" and the English "Miss Hong Kong" of Miss Hong Kong. In the early years, the Miss Hong Kong crown was mostly made of glass instead of diamonds and electroplated and polished, and the 1985 champion Xie Ning was interviewed in November 2022, saying that his back crown was made of glass, which would change color after a long time and would break on the ground.
Miss Hong Kong 1990 Contest Winner Yuen Wing-yee (Visual China/Photo)
The prizes for Miss Hong Kong were not just crowns, scepters, capes and ribbons, but 1946 winner Li Lan received a silver cup, a watch and a batch of cosmetics. In the first Miss Hong Kong election sponsored by TVB in 1973, the winner received a prize of 10,000 yuan and a one-year artist contract with TVB, and also had the opportunity to represent Hong Kong in various international beauty pageants. In 1986, the total value of Miss Hong Kong's prizes increased to HK$1 million, including jewellery, cars, cash and new travel expenses. Players up to 30 can get more than 3,000 yuan of diamond accessories. In 1988, Li Jiaxin, known as the "most beautiful Hong Kong sister", won the championship, and the prizes for this year's finals included 15,000 yuan in cash, 20,000 yuan in clothing allowance, 500,000 yuan on the first floor of the bungalow, a sports car worth 403,000 yuan, a luxury tour for two worth 35,000 yuan, etc., as well as prizes sent by various institutions, such as round-trip air tickets to and from Japan, televisions, photographic equipment, ginseng, furniture, leather goods, etc.
For some of the candidates from disadvantaged families, this is a big motivation for them to compete. Actors Zhong Chuhong and Cai Shaofen, who were later known to the public, participated in the competition to subsidize their families.
In 1998, the film "The Happier I Am, the More Fallen" starring Qiu Shuzhen won the Alfrebauer Award at the Berlin Film Festival. She ran for Miss Hong Kong in 1987 but withdrew due to alleged plastic surgery (Visual China/Photo)
When I interviewed actress Yuen Wing-yee a few years ago, she recalled that the most fantasized image she had as a child was winning the Miss Hong Kong title. She will pull her sister to play role-play together, and she will take the Hong Kong sister's scepter and go around the scene. At the age of sixteen or seventeen, she got the opportunity to be a stand-in for actor Yuen Jieying, and found that being an actor was painful on the set, even if she became a Hong Kong sister and entered the entertainment industry, she was scolded. "Wow, except for my parents, who dares to scold me. I don't want to be a Hong Kong sister, and I don't want to film. She rekindled her interest in Miss Hong Kong, simply because she was able to go to Canada for free to shoot locations that year.
Compared with these visible prizes, after becoming Miss Hong Kong, life is more like being raised by fate, and its cloud-turning hands have completely changed the original track.
Marie Cheung, winner of Miss Hong Kong 1975, said: "Winning the Miss Hong Kong is the key to opportunity. Her parents divorced when she was 9 years old, and she lived on the streets for a time, but was sent to Po Leung Kuk and grew up in an orphanage. After graduating from secondary school, she pursued her education while earning a living, successfully enrolled in Sacred Heart School to study business, and worked at the Nigerian Consulate. At the age of 23, she signed up for the Miss Hong Kong contest, seeking to "confirm that the children adopted by Po Leung Kuk will not be inferior to people from normal families." After being elected champion, she starred in film and television dramas, and then married Dr. Li Zhongchen (Bruce Lee's brother) of the Hong Kong Observatory, faded out of the entertainment industry, studied business administration and literature at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Hong Kong Chinese University respectively, studied painting with teachers, held photography exhibitions, and published essay collections... In 1988, he was selected as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of Hong Kong.
Miss Hong Kong 1977 winner Zhu Lingling married Fok Yingdong's son Fok Zhenting the year after her election, giving birth to three sons, and the eldest Fok Qigang later married diver Guo Jingjing, so that the public now recognizes Zhu Lingling as "Guo Jingjing's mother-in-law".
Unlike the "icing on the cake" after Marie Cheung and Zhu Lingling were elected Hong Kong sisters, some Hong Kong sisters directly "changed their lives against the sky". Li Lan was born into a poor family and was originally a hotel hostess. The status of the Miss Hong Kong champion helped her enter the entertainment industry, starring in the first film "Love Flame" after the Hong Kong Anti-Japanese War and Hong Kong's first Wong Fei-hung film "Wong Fei Hong's Whip Wind and Candle". Soon after, she married a playground manager, ending her short career as an actress and living a stable and stable life.
In 1947, Miss Hong Kong champion Wu Danfeng signed a contract with Sino-British Film Company and starred in the movie "Rich Spring Color". She was originally the step-brother-in-law of businessman Ou Xiyuan and was often subjected to domestic violence. After becoming a Hong Kong sister, Wu Danfeng negotiated a divorce with Au Xiyuan, and later married Hong Kong watch king Lun Tianle, and lived a new life.
After TVB hosted the Miss Hong Kong contest, the selected Hong Kong sister had the opportunity to sign an artist contract with TVB and also enter the entertainment industry. This is true of Chung Chu-hong, Yau Shuzhen, Maggie Cheung, Kwong Mei-wan, Choi Shaofen, Yuen Wing-yee and others. Maggie Cheung is still the peak representative of Chinese film actresses, Yuen Yongyi is the first "Lian Zhuang film queen" in the history of the Hong Kong Film Awards, Chung Chuhong and Yau Shuzhen are important faces of the golden age of Hong Kong films, and Cai Shaofen is TVB's youngest "queen" and is still active in the public eye.
Miss Hong Kong gets so many opportunities not just by a crown. In 1973, TVB had strict regulations for Miss Hong Kong contest applicants: age 17-25, unmarried, must have received a good education; Good facial features, toned figure, moderate height, generous demeanor; Speech, eloquence, personality, makeup, and sense of humor must be excellent. As soon as this regulation came out, it put an end to all kinds of chaos in the earlier Miss Hong Kong election, and controlled the overall quality of Hong Kong sisters from the source.
Within one year of her election, the Miss Hong Kong winner will serve as a Goodwill Ambassador for Hong Kong and promote Hong Kong around the world; Winning Sisters will have the opportunity to represent Hong Kong in international beauty pageants (i.e. Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss International, etc.). This makes the judges' selection of Hong Kong sisters more cautious. The three-time Miss Hong Kong champions from 1973 to 1975, Sun Yongen, Zhang Wenying and Zhang Mari are not bright types, but mature and stable, dignified and elegant. They worked together to reverse the public's impression of the Hong Kong sister as a "rich concubine", so that the Hong Kong sister election bid farewell to the stereotype of high society pastime, and became an event to the public and enter the people's lives.
During the 1976 Miss Hong Kong contest, TVB carried the slogan: "The purpose of the Hong Kong Miss Contest is to select a girl with both talents and appearances who can truly represent the beauty and culture of Hong Kong, and enhance the impression of overseas people on Hong Kong." As a result, the status of Miss Hong Kong has been further enhanced, and Miss Hong Kong has truly become a big city business card in Hong Kong. The public's new perception of Hong Kong sister gradually formed: "Hong Kong sister" is equal to generous, decent, Sven, and cultured, and is a "holy and flawless" image.
At the same time, image conflicts have become the focus of media chasing and a pain point of public condemnation, and every year during the Miss Hong Kong contest, the "black history" of the contestants is often seen in the media. Judging appearance is a basic operation, the words are mean, "the appearance is too sloppy", "competing in the shape of an aircraft carrier", "the chin is pointed so that it can be inserted from the Tsuen Wan Line to the Hong Kong Island Line (Hong Kong MTR Line)"... Some media can't wait to pick up three generations of ancestors. Grace had wondered if she would run if she hadn't been overage, but the answer was no. "The pressure to bear is really too great, and there is overwhelming news every year. It can only be said that the people who participated in the election have a strong psychological quality. ”
In 1988, Li Ka-yan won the Miss Hong Kong contest. She is also known as the "most beautiful Hong Kong sister" (Visual China/Photo)
Choi told me that when she won the third runner-up in the Miss Hong Kong contest in 1991, she was riddled with negative news. "Many people think that running for Miss Hong Kong at the age of 17 is not greed for vanity? I have a lot of labels on me, but they are all bad. Plus her role in the first play killed the character played by Kwok Fucheng, in the second play killed the character played by Hong Xin, in the third play killed the whole family of the character, once she was walking on the street, a father pointed to her and said to her son "This is Qi Xueer (Cai Shaofen's character name in "Tianlun)", just when she was very happy and felt that someone finally knew her, her father continued: "Don't like her, she is very cheap!" ”
In 1987, the movie "Miss Hong Kong Photo" starring Wang Zuxian, Zhen Ni and Deng Guangrong was released, and after the election of Miss Hong Kong champion Li Qianbei played by Wang Zuxian, she acted as a call girl for wealthy people from other places while engaged in acting work to earn extra money. Once after picking up guests in Singapore, she meets Leung Tsz Wai (Tang Kwong-wing), a wealthy married businessman in Hong Kong on business. The two had a story. The film takes the Miss Hong Kong champion as the call girl and third party of the upper class, with the "Big Explosion Insider" as a gimmick, specially released during the 1987 Miss Hong Kong pageant, the name of the beauty contest in the film is exactly the same as the real Miss Hong Kong contest, and the background music of the award ceremony is also very similar. The film begins with a statement: "The story of this film is all fiction, and if there are similarities, it is unfortunate." The film was controversial after its release and was refused to be broadcast by TVB.
The runner-up of Miss Hong Kong 1981, Chin Wai-yee, recalled that after being elected, people all over Hong Kong knew her. "I accept without fear and with great pleasure the envy, admiration and gaze of all who hold up pen and paper and ask for an autograph. That excitement is like stepping on a broad road to fairy tale country. Somehow, the brilliance faded with the days, and I was really afraid that such an unrealistic 'glory' would be like a rainbow in the sky, drowning so quickly... Many people think that being a Miss Hong Kong, glory and wealth are gathered in one, flying on branches to be a phoenix, breathing the wind to call the rain, and living a fairy-like life. Wrong, wrong..." At that time, Qian Huiyi could not have imagined that she would appear in the media more than thirty years later because of a marriage dispute with her husband, and the report was titled "Rich husband cheated on a 25-year-old young model, Hong Kong sister Qian Huiyi officially announced her divorce, and there was no one to rely on except her children."
Miss Hong Kong 1993 winner Mok Kexin (right) and Miss World 1992 Julia Krozekina at TVB Clear Water Bay TV City in Hong Kong (Visual China/Photo)
After being elected as the runner-up of Miss Hong Kong in 1978, Lian Huiling refused to enter the entertainment industry, hoping to continue her previous administrative secretary job, but encountered obstacles when looking for a job. "Being elected Miss Hong Kong didn't bring me anything, but it added a lot of trouble to my career. Those real bosses only want to hire a competent staff member and are wary of candidates with the title of 'Miss Hong Kong'. In addition, having been a 'Hong Kong sister', everyone's eyes are staring, and they must work extra hard to highlight themselves, firstly, not to lose the identity of Miss Hong Kong, and secondly, to eliminate the boss's doubts about their ability to work. Psychological stress is great. ”
In 2004, Leung Wing-ki and Miss Hong Kong candidate Beauty shot on location in Kenya, Africa (Visual China/Photo)
If you want to wear a back crown, you must bear its weight. The title of Miss Hong Kong is both honor and shackles. Contesting Miss Hong Kong and winning the rankings (especially the title) means dealing with media scrutiny and digging during and after the election, and will be subject to public scrutiny and moral judgment for a long time. Pain is hidden in the life of the individual, becoming the dark side of Miss Hong Kong's glory.
Make beauty
A few years ago, I met Zhao Yazhi during the recording of a variety show, she is over 60 years old and has not appeared in the mainland for a long time. During the interview, she hardly changed her sitting position: her legs were slightly bent, her heels were just leaning against the edge of the sofa, her hands were on her legs, and her limited movements were only left and right hand rotations. When it comes to happiness, the smile is not toothy, the voice is very soft, but the words are clear. The word that accompanies Zhao Yazhi the most is "beauty", and as she ages, "beauty" upgrades to "elegant". She has strong traces of tradition, decent and measured, which made me think that it was a relic of her training when she ran for Hong Kong sister, because I felt the same when I saw Yuen Yongyi, Cai Shaofen, and She Shiman, who were born in Hong Kong sisters.
Since the first Miss Hong Kong contest on TVB in 1973, the selected candidates have been required to undergo more than a month of rigorous training, learn manners, makeup, and rehearsals. In the past, the content of these trainings was not known, but only presented to the audience as a presentation performance from the finalists. It was not until the Miss Hong Kong reality show in 2023 that the relevant content was exposed to a certain extent.
In the makeup class, Lui Shuxian, who has been a makeup tutor of Hong Kong sisters for ten consecutive years, gave one-on-one guidance, pointing out the facial features and suitable makeup of each contestant, and she bluntly said that one contestant is more suitable for light makeup, and heavy makeup looks "like a shemale". Model Chen Jiarong, a stepstep training instructor, let one contestant walk the stage until I am satisfied. ”
More training routines cannot be seen. Grace recalls that candidates train five or six days a week, in addition to learning basic manners, steps, makeup, and professional training such as singing and dancing. TVB will give each contestant advice on their personal appearance, "Specific to you want to remove hair." "I've been doing this for years and know how to make a girl look better." ”
"It's not that TVB has established standards of beauty, but some basic etiquette is already there, how to wear high heels, how to put the center of gravity of the feet, how to eat Western food... These have a set of established rules, which is common sense, but ordinary girls do not necessarily know. It will be used in the future if you attend these occasions. For many girls, this is equivalent to taking many classes and seeing a world that they have never been exposed to. Grace said.
In 2007, Miss Hong Kong contestant performance (Visual China/Photo)
The Miss Hong Kong contest is more like creating a beautiful event. For example, a few days before the first round of interviews, the candidates received an invitation letter to inform them of their selection. The invitation letter states that the selected candidates will bring their own high heels and multiple sets of clothes, including formal wear, swimwear, yoga wear, etc., and because the venue does not provide food and the air conditioning is sufficient, they also need to bring their own warm clothes.
On the day of the interview, the 89 selected candidates with large bags and small bags of luggage were photographed by reporters as soon as they got off the bus, asking for their names. After entering TVB, it will still be surrounded by magnesium lights, and dozens of reporters will form a half-circle, waiting for each selected person to walk to the positioning point in front of the set board to make an official appearance.
After being selected, he slept only 3-4 hours a day, and was followed by reporters most of the day. A former candidate recalled that at that time, some media asked her: "I found that you look like Tang Wei, so are you willing to let you film nude scenes now?" She was confused. It was later reported that she "looked down on Tang Wei and did not film".
But with training, the selected candidates will be comfortable facing similar situations.
In 2000, a reporter followed Miss Hong Kong to Sanya to shoot exteriors, and he described that "the reporter has been unable to eat and change several shifts, and only one of the Hong Kong sisters fainted." At that time, the temperature in Sanya was above 40 degrees Celsius, and the finalists with full makeup had to perform gymnastics on hot tiles, holding their posture and allowing the shoot. Of course, the posture at this time has been specially designed and trained one-on-one, covering up the imperfections and presenting the most beautiful angle. They have also learned to stay sensitive to the camera 24 hours a day, often with a smile on their faces. You can't wipe sweat casually during shooting, you can only soak it up slightly. On their previous stop for a photo shoot in Australia, they underwent hellish training, jumping from a height into the sea and across the desert, with only three hours of rest a day.
When asked if it was hard, they all shook their heads. Answering questions is also like memorizing standard answers, the way to health must be to eat fruit, drink plenty of water, stick to exercise and use sponsors' health supplements. Although the dream is not a cookie-cutter world peace, it is always true and beautiful. The reporter described them as "well-behaved."
After targeted training with the same purpose, the Miss Hong Kong winners stood on the same running line. What really decided the fate of their competition finally fell on the campaign slogan - beauty and wisdom.
In the history of Miss Hong Kong, "all natural" was an unwritten rule. In 1987, Qiu Shuzhen was the favorite to win the championship, but it was revealed that "her chin had plastic surgery" before the final. Although she clarified that she had undergone corrective surgery for a jaw injury due to a fall down the stairs a year ago, and did not use the knife, the media did not stop verbally criticizing. Qiu Shuzhen withdrew in anger and stopped at the round of 12. In the final, she sat in the audience and smiled the whole time until the end - fortunately, in terms of Qiu Shuzhen's future achievements, she was also the one who laughed last in that Hong Kong sister.
In 1988, the Miss Hong Kong contest stage, the champion Li Ka-yan, who was known as the "most beautiful Hong Kong sister", appeared. The Hong Kong media, which has always been vicious, did not hesitate to praise, calling her beauty "shocking" and saying that she "committed murder with beauty." At that time, there was a popular saying in Hong Kong: "The richest is not Li Ka-shing, and the most beautiful is Li Ka-shing." More than 30 years have passed, and the richest Hong Kong sister is still Li Ka-shing, and the most beautiful Hong Kong sister is still Li Ka-shing.
In the 21st century, there are very few beautiful women among Miss Hong Kong who are praised by everyone. Every year at the Hong Kong sister final, the Hong Kong sisters in the 70s, 80s and 90s of the last century will be "remembered in the past", and the later Hong Kong sisters can only be ridiculed and ridiculed in the comparison between the present and the past. Viewers who pay attention to the Hong Kong sister election will definitely notice that after 2000, I don't know how many selected people have been named the "ugliest Hong Kong sister". But in fact, it is no wonder that the Hong Kong sister, the mainland's entertainment industry is also often caught in memories of the past, and popular stars in Japan, Europe and the United States have also been said to be "no longer recognizable as before".
In 1993, Mo Kexin defeated the popular player Guo Keying to win the championship. Her appearance is not "beautiful" in the secular sense (perhaps in line with this year's campaign theme "Breaking through limitations, no longer ordinary, pure beauty breakthrough"?). ), the media said that one of the judges who supported her to win the championship at that time was Jackie Chan, because he appreciated that she "read a lot". Afterwards, Mo Kexin was once called the "ugliest Hong Kong sister" by the audience. Her unpopularity is also reflected in the fact that TVB boss Run Run Shaw changed to other female artists to accompany him on the occasion that was originally scheduled to be accompanied by the fresh Hong Kong sister champion. There were many rumors about her, and a few years later, columnists ridiculed her for "bad feng shui." Because since 1993, the Hong Kong sister election seems to have gone downhill, and the only person who can be called out by the public in the future is the third runner-up She Shiman in 1997.
Miss Hong Kong 2022 Contest, Lin Yuxun won the championship (Visual China/Photo)
The reason for this is related to the Asian financial crisis in 1997. Hong Kong's economy has been down, and the entertainment industry has been seriously affected. As the most likely "destination" for Miss Hong Kong, the Hong Kong film industry, which once produced an average of 200 works a year, had less than 100 productions by 1997. In the 1980s, the Taiwan market and the Southeast Asian market, on which Hong Kong films mainly depended, greatly reduced their interest in Hong Kong film bubbles, and with the full entry of Hollywood films, Hong Kong films gradually lost their largest foreign markets. People in the Hong Kong film industry are waiting for work, and some staff members are guarding the company during the day and driving taxis after work to subsidize their families. The old Hong Kong sister has not yet gained a foothold, and the new port sister is even rarer. The ascent path is getting narrower and narrower, and TVB dramas have almost become their only way out - not necessarily the protagonists.
Wisdom is eternal
In the resumes of Miss Hong Kong candidates, the most intuitive and intelligent link is academic qualifications. The appearance of Li Meishan in 1986, Chen Farong in 1989, and Guo Aiming in 1991 made the judges particularly excited. A graduate of New York University's Department of Physics, Li Meishan speaks 13 languages and dreams of becoming a doctor. Chen Farong, who majored in fashion design at the University of Hawaii, was praised by the judges for her "knowledge, ideal answers, high cultural standards, and rich knowledge of current affairs." Guo Aiming broke the academic record of Hong Kong sister, she is a master's student in mechanical engineering at the University of Southern California, when she returned to Hong Kong for vacation, she participated in the Hong Kong sister competition on a whim and won the championship (the third place was Cai Shaofen). After entering the 21st century, there are more and more Hong Kong sisters with high education, and there is no lack of candidates from world-famous universities such as Cambridge University.
The "wisdom" that the audience can directly feel is reduced to intellectual quizzes and "perseverance" when performing situations (Cantonese, which refers to the need to respond flexibly when there is no preparation or temporary changes. It was originally a joke term. Because the opera classes are all live performances, if you encounter a sudden change on the spot, you can only rely on the actor to adapt on the spot. "Holding" is "holding" and "birth" is "vitality"). In 1990, when Liang Xiaoice was performing a dance, she accidentally slipped the hat in her hand, she was unhurried, lay on the spot, and put a pose next to the hat to finish. In the Miss Hong Kong 1982 final, when asked "If you could choose a historical figure as your boyfriend, who would you choose", she replied: "Hitler", "I hope to use my talent to make him not invade other countries." "Won applause from the audience.
Such "persistence" becomes the key to victory when beauty is evenly matched. Liang Xiaoice did not make the top three in the audience vote before the final, until the hat dance scene appeared, surpassing the contestants with higher scores than her and becoming the third runner-up that year. Liang Yunrui became the champion of the year as a dark horse. Throughout the Hong Kong sister final, the standard of wisdom can be simply summarized as: quick wisdom is the icing on the cake, mediocre answers can pass, but abnormal performance will be a big hit - Zhao Yazhi, who was so nervous that she stammered when answering questions, was an example.
But wisdom takes longer to prove than the "beauty" that can be seen at a glance and flowers in each eye. This allows the competition of Hong Kong sisters to extend to the post-competition, maybe they can be dignified, elegant and reserved for a year of smooth and prosperous, or they can save the crown for a lifetime, but the first life will have to undergo more tests. As Miss Hong Kong winner Chan Fa-wing put it in 1989: "Although I won slightly this time, it does not mean that I will win in my life." A pageant doesn't mean anything. ”
Since her debut, every appearance of Miss Hong Kong, every stage of her life is in full view, the "wisdom" they need is closer to a kind of wisdom of life, in the marathon of life, the Hong Kong sisters who left a name in the hearts of the audience after the big waves have the same temperament: focus, hard work, clear life goals...
In 1979, Chung Chuhong participated in the Miss Hong Kong pageant, because she could not wear high heels, resulting in a mistake on the spot, and the top three did not enter. After the game, she was appreciated by actor Liu Songren and starred in the heroine of the costume film "Bishui Hanshan Killing Gold", which is the debut film directed by To Qifeng, and it is also the beginning of Zhong Chuhong's film history. In 1981, she became famous by serving as the heroine of "Hu Yue's Story" directed by Xu Anhua, and since then she has successively appeared in "Autumn Fairy Tale", "Dao Ma Dan", "Eight-Star Annunciation" and other acclaimed movies.
On August 22, 2023, Miss Hong Kong 2023 candidate beauty top 16 group photo (Visual China/Photo)
Initially, she was questioned as a vase, for which she kept taking on the play, and at her busiest, she only had two hours of rest a day. When filming "Operation Falcon" with Andy Lau, the glass plunged into the back of her neck, blood came out, and the staff wanted to take her to the hospital, and she insisted on finishing the shot.
Her efforts have made her beauty visible to more people, and she has gradually become one of the most popular female stars in Hong Kong, and her salary has always been in the forefront of Hong Kong female stars. At that time, another saying circulated in Hong Kong: no matter how red it is, it is not Zhong Chuhong, and it is no longer able to send Chow Yunfa.
Four years after Chung Chu-hong's candidacy for Hong Kong sister, Maggie Cheung appeared on the stage of the 1983 Hong Kong sister election, winning the runner-up and "Miss Most Photogenic" that year, when she was 18 years old. She said: "Participating in the Miss Hong Kong contest was the most courageous decision for the first time in my life. I am most afraid of competing and comparing with others because I am afraid of losing! But this time I made up my mind, because participating in the Hong Kong sister beauty pageant is an important opportunity for me to enter the entertainment industry, even if I lose the election, I still have the opportunity to be an artist, because acting is so attractive to me! ”
In 1984, Shaw Film Company borrowed Maggie Cheung from TVB to shoot the comedy "The Frog Prince", and she began her film road. In 1985, she was nominated for the Best Newcomer Award at the 4th Hong Kong Film Awards for her film "Fate" with Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui.
The media also questioned Maggie Cheung's acting skills: "Apart from beauty, there is really nothing worth mentioning. More than lively, insufficient connotation. Watching her perform, I feel like she's nothing more than a vase walking around the screen. ”
She and Zhong Chuhong made the same choice: crazy to hone their acting skills. In 1988, she took on 12 films, known as "Zhang Yido". She did not use a stand-in in "Police Story 2", was smashed on the scalp by a steel frame, and received more than a dozen stitches. Since starring in "Clean" in 2004, Maggie Cheung has not starred in a work for nearly 20 years, but this does not affect her to become the "best Chinese actress" in the hearts of fans - she holds 5 Academy Awards and 4 Golden Horse Awards, is the Cannes and Berlin film queens in the three major international film festivals, representing characters can not be counted on one hand, she has written her name into Hong Kong film history.
Mary Cheung once reflected on the Hong Kong sister campaign, she said: "The beauty pageant is a more appearance-oriented competition, at the very least, we still can't find a Hong Kong sister with improper facial features and only inner beauty. The most meaningful thing about 'wireless' pageants is 'beauty and intelligence'. But the problem is that beauty and wisdom are the opposite, beauty fades day by day, and wisdom continues to increase over the years. ”
From chatting with Zhao Yazhi, I learned that her behavior came more from her tutor than from the training of her Hong Kong sister. She considers herself a "very traditional Chinese woman", and her parents have taught her since she was a child that she must stand straight, sit straight, and put her feet in one place, and she must be fixed, not crooked, and not moved. Be sure to eat with your family every New Year, be humble and filial to your parents, and be gentle and loving to your children. As a woman, the greatest responsibility in life is to be with her husband and children, and the greatest wealth is to have a happy family. Zhao Yazhi married early, and in the second marriage, she pushed off many episodes for taking care of her children, and almost pushed off the role of Bai Suzhen.
After winning fourth place in the Miss Hong Kong contest in 1973, Zhao Yazhi continued to work as a flight attendant - a flight attendant who was much "safer" than the entertainment industry in which she wore a swimsuit to be examined. After flying for two years, the "jet lag" brought by international flights made her miserable and decided to return to TVB. With the popularity of dramas such as "The Sky and Dragon Slayer" and "On the Beach", she ushered in the heyday of her career and became the first Hong Kong sister to become popular in the film and television industry.
Judging from the results, Zhao Yazhi was almost "tailor-made" for Miss Hong Kong, she conformed to the aesthetics of the time, and she was beautiful for a long time, elegant for decades. Although she did not win the championship in the competition, the long years made her the only remaining in the hearts of the Hong Kong sisters in that class, and also became the original and most enduring synonym of the Hong Kong sisters.
Participating in and selecting Miss Hong Kong, the contestants and the competition achieve each other, not who excavates whom, but the appropriate encounter, supporting each other to embark on the promised destiny.
In the past, the stage of Miss Hong Kong provided an opportunity for outstanding women to show themselves and provide a way to realize the value of life. With the development of society and the improvement of women's status, there are more and more similar platforms, and it is no longer the only choice to participate in the Hong Kong sister election. For the organizers, the Miss Hong Kong contest is still a large-scale TVB program, which can still represent Hong Kong, introduce Hong Kong, promote Hong Kong, and even promote Hong Kong to go further and better.
Grace is a pseudonym. Intern journalists Yang Yuxi and Zhang Weiyu also contributed to this article. Thanks to Li Qing and Chen Shirui for their help.
References: "Miss Hong Kong and Hong Kong Movies", "Miss Hong Kong Biography: 1946-1990", "Miss Hong Kong Winning Secrets", etc.
Southern People Weekly reporter Zhang Mingmeng
Editor-in-charge: Yang Jingru