The eight women lining up to take questions included a pediatrician, a legal assistant and a piano teacher.
But standing on stage in their bikinis at the River Rock Casino in Richmond, B.C., they had one goal B次元官网网址� to become the next Miss Chinese Vancouver.
The popularity of the 27-year-old pageant is testament to both the ongoing lure of celebrity in Hong Kong and Chinese show business, and what one expert called the B次元官网网址渁uraB次元官网网址� surrounding Chinese Canadian entertainers across the Pacific.
Vancouver has long served as a talent source for the Hong Kong and mainland Chinese entertainment scenes, and the mutual attraction persists in spite of recent political tensions over the crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong and allegations of Chinese political interference in Canada.
Dance teacher Yi Yi Wang, 19, who was announced the winner of the pageant on Dec. 3, hopes to become an actor and environmental activist.
Far from being deterred by political tensions, Wang thinks her education at the University of British Columbia, where she is studying for a degree in international relations, can be turned into an advantage in the Chinese film industry. SheB次元官网网址檚 also open to opportunities in the West.
B次元官网网址淚 am someone who grew up in China and studied in Vancouver, so I am very aware of both cultures and donB次元官网网址檛 think there is a conflict in me pursuing entertainment anywhere else because my final goal is to connect people from all over the world together,B次元官网网址� said Wang, who started taking part in pageants at the age of 15.
The pageant, arranged by Fairchild TV, plays a key role in identifying talent for Chinese-language show business. Past winners who found fame and careers in Hong Kong as singers or actors include Bernice Liu who won in 2000, Eliza Sam who won in 2009, 2011B次元官网网址檚 Erica Chui, and 2012B次元官网网址檚 Gloria Tang.
All went on to be crowned Miss Chinese International in Hong Kong, a title that has been held by at least six Vancouverites and two from Toronto, according to TVB, the Hong Kong television network that organizes the pageant. Miss Chinese International winners are offered contracts with TVB.
Wang said she also has her sights set on the Miss Chinese International title.
B次元官网网址淔or now, I would like to continue my work as Miss Chinese Vancouver to represent the city by doing more volunteering work and giving back to my local community,B次元官网网址� she said.
University of B.C. musicologist Dr. Hedy Law said would-be Chinese-Canadian idols benefit from what Chinese and Hong Kong audiences perceived as their B次元官网网址渟ophistication.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淭hey are taller, beautiful and they speak English so well. Many people (in China and Hong Kong) feel: B次元官网网址榳ow, they are just so fantastic,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� said Law, an associate professor at the School of Music at UBC who recently helped organize a Cantopop, or Cantonese pop music, song contest for students.
B次元官网网址淭here is a kind of an aura around the Chinese Canadians and sometimes, even though their Cantonese and Mandarin are not that perfect, or even a bit off, people still find them very cute and attractive.B次元官网网址�
Hong Kong entertainment enjoyed strong connections to Vancouver in the 1980s and 1990s, when stars such as Cantopop idol and actor Leslie Cheung moved to Canada, but Law said the link dates back much further.
Law said a B次元官网网址渢ranspacific entertainment networkB次元官网网址� existed among the Chinese-speaking diaspora a century ago.
B次元官网网址淲hen you talk about the entertainment industry, you need to remember: the entertainment industry always follows the community,B次元官网网址� said Law.
Laws traced the connections back to the 1920s when Cantonese-speaking musicians from Hong Kong and Guangzhou in southern China would travel by ship to perform in Vancouver, where their musical talents bloomed.
She said the phenomenon persists, with Hong Kong music industry figures travelling to Vancouver to both absorb the local entertainment culture and share their knowledge. Hong Kong acts continue to enjoy strong support when touring to Vancouver, Law said.
Cantopop boy band Mirror was in Vancouver this month to promote the new season of King Maker, a reality TV show that seeks to identify Chinese pop idols from among a group of North American contestants, many from Vancouver.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not surprising to see Mirror coming to town because we have the audiences here and we always have the entertainment business network,B次元官网网址� said Law.
B次元官网网址淲hat we see now is basically the continuation of the same kind of network.B次元官网网址�
QueenB次元官网网址檚 University medical science graduate Renee Jan was first runner-up in this yearB次元官网网址檚 Miss Chinese Vancouver pageant.
She hopes to sign with an entertainment company to further a music career.
SheB次元官网网址檚 more worried about how her Mandarin will stand up in a Chinese environment, than political concerns. Mandarin is mainly spoken in mainland China, while Cantonese predominates in Hong Kong.
B次元官网网址淚f (my career) is in Asia, I feel like I would have a little bit of a harder time because of my Mandarin,B次元官网网址� said Jan.
She said she also worries about leaving family and friends behind in Canada.
Not all the Miss Chinese Vancouver contestants see a future in show business.
Second runner-up Dr. Nicole Tanner, 27, was a pediatrician in Hong Kong, where she also performed standup comedy. She managed to combine both fields in a public awareness campaign about colon cancer, in which she dressed up in B次元官网网址減ooB次元官网网址� costume.
As much as she loves being on stage, TannerB次元官网网址檚 next goal is to get a medical licence in Canada. She immigrated just three months ago and has no immediate plans to return to Hong Kong.
What if someone offered her a multimillion-dollar showbiz contract in China or Hong Kong?
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not about the money,B次元官网网址� said Tanner. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 more about what I think fulfils you, and for me, the most important thing is I go to work every day happy, and I wake up every morning excited to go to work. And thatB次元官网网址檚 what being a pediatrics doctor has given me, so I could never give that up.B次元官网网址�
Tanner, whose mother Maur Yeung was a Miss Hong Kong contestant in 1991, said she joined the Vancouver pageant for the challenge and to make friends.
Law said the Hong Kong and Chinese entertainment industries were B次元官网网址渃autious and alertB次元官网网址� to geopolitical changes.
B次元官网网址淵ou donB次元官网网址檛 follow the music to understand the politics. You always understand the politics and then you see what kind of impact it has on the culture, including the music,B次元官网网址� said Law. B次元官网网址淲hat I have discovered is that the industry professionals are even more alert than consumers about what they produce.B次元官网网址�
She said the transpacific entertainment industry connections would persist, regardless of any tensions.
B次元官网网址淵ou know some of my students told me that their parents immigrated here in the 1980s and 1990s. They grew up listening to Leslie Chueng even though they didnB次元官网网址檛 speak the language,B次元官网网址� said Law, adding that the music created an intergenerational bond.
B次元官网网址淭he community is not fading, itB次元官网网址檚 not declining. ItB次元官网网址檚 actually expanding.B次元官网网址�
This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press B次元官网网址 Fellowship.
Nono Shen, The Canadian Press
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