Hello everyone!
It's been way too long since I've done a pageant blogpost (or anything remotely related to pageants), let alone a blogpost. Covid has not been kind and I decided to take my time with finding my footing again, but I'm back with the pageant blogposts - how funny is it that the first pageant that I make a 'comeback' with is the same pageant that I last blogged about but just 2 years ago? This year, both the talent and cooking segments were held at Canberra Plaza, so it was another new place to explore as well.
If you don't know what I'm talking about (or have not read the title), it's the Mrs Singapore Chinatown Pageant 2022. For those who are new here; yes, its a MRS pageant. Married women should be celebrated just as much as single women. To have a little rundown; there are two categories for the pageant; Mrs Singapore Chinatown (for married women between ages 25 - 44) and the Classic Mrs Singapore Chinatown (for married women above the age of 45). They will then represent Singapore in their respective international pageants.
Let's meet the contestants, starting with the Mrs category:
Contestant No. 01: Jasmine Abigail Tan
Contestant No. 02: Alison Wee
Contestant No. 03: Elisha Lim
Contestant No. 04: Bowie Foong
Contestant No. 05: Kartina Kang
Contestant No. 06 Zoey Peng
Contestant No. 07: Sufea Su
Contestant No. 09: Joycelyn Pang
And now, for the Classic Mrs category:
Contestant No. C01: Meygan Cheng
Contestant No. C02: Ellyn Paw
Contestant No. C03: Cheryl Tan
Contestant No. C04: Lynn Lim
Contestant No. C05: Anjenia Siaw
Contestant No. C06: Jacqueline Leo
Contestant No. C07: Jasmine Koh
Contestant No. C08: Lim Hai Qian
Contestant No. C09: Julie Chan
Contestant No. C10: Alison Tea Lee
Have you started picking a favourite? If not, no worries, perhaps some snippets of the Talent and Cooking segments will influence your decisions! Pssst, you can vote for your favourite on ERM's Facebook page so if you'd like to show some love to your favourite contestant, now is the best time to do so!
Let's begin with the talent round!
This was the first time I met the ladies, so I was quite excited!
It was quite an experience for me since I haven't covered a pageant is literally 2 years. It felt surreal to be looking at the stage and waiting to meet the contestants for the first time, let alone in a new location!
Contestant No. 01: Jasmine Abigail Tan
Jasmine did a ribbon dance for us. I thought it was cute haha and her dress sort of reminded me of a mermaid and kind of reminded me of Anna from Frozen (Frozen fans don't come for me if you disagree please HAHA).
Contestant No. 02: Alison Wee
Alison sang for us, I remembered it being quite an emotional mandarin song - frankly I'm terrible with song titles, and it was a heartfelt performance! I thought her dress was so pretty and elegant too.
Contestant No. 03: Elisha Lim
I know I said i was bad with song titles but I recogised the song Elisha performed to right away. Take your time to guess, but it's a song by Blackpink (fellow blinks, where ya at?). So of course everyone was vibing with her energetic performance, and if I remember correctly, she choreographed it herself as well!
Contestant No. 04: Bowie Foong
It's not a Mrs Pageant without any belly dancing! I always look forward to their costumes because they're so vibrant and shimmery! I thought Bowie's performance was really special because she didn't wear what I usually expected: a bra top and a long flowy skirt. So it was something new and I thought she did really great on stage!
Contestant No. 05: Kartina Kang
I've never heard the song she performed for us and I can't remember what language it was in, but I appreciated her stage presence and thought her bold choice of costume was really cool! Plus it matched her hair so that was fun!
Contestant No. 06: Zoey Peng
The wings gave me life - I love watching performances that make good use of their props and this was genuinely so hypnotising (plus hello, look at her abs. I want to look like that at 40). I thought her costume was pretty, I just really enjoyed it!
Contestant No. 07: Sufea Su
Sufea's costume caught my eye while the ladies were lining up for their turn to go on stage, and I thought it was a great choice of costume because it suits the performance (yes, belly dance again) and it looks really good both on stage and in pictures/video.
Contestant No. 09: Joycelyn Pang
I appreciate an instrument on the pageant stage every now and then! This only the second time that I've seen a gu zheng grace the pageant stage, and honestly I couldn't tell that Jocelyn only learned the guzheng for the competition (to be fair, I do not lay the guzheng) so I think it was really brave of her and look at how intricate that costume is!!
Contestant No. C01: Meygan Cheng
Another kpop performance! This time it was to Nayeon's Pop - another earworm that I think most of us were familiar with. I know I was pretty absorbed into her performance. If I remember correctly, Meygan is a fitness instructor as well, so imagine how fun and lively her classes would be!
Contestant No. C02: Ellyn Paw
Needless to say, I was so mesmerised by the holographic wings. Ellyn's performance had a more dreamy feel so I appreciated the change in mood for a bit - something to calm the energy in the space since everyone else was embarking on something more upbeat/high-energy.
Contestant No. C03: Cheryl Tan
I was not expecting Cheryl to sing AND dance, I thought it was just going to be a dance item so I was surprised when I saw her have a mic put on. I respect the effort she put into her performance and I definitely appreciated what she brought to the stage!
Contestant No. C04: Lynn Lim
Lynn did something I've personally neevr seen before - I think it's meant to be like a catwalk/presentation of the fan + qipao. I'm so sure that there's a proper term for it and there is quite a following for this sort of thing and I just thought how cool and elegant it was. It really showcases how gentle and demure a lady could be.
Contestant No. C05: Anjenia Siaw
I thought Anjenia's performance was just so energetic! She had our host, Gerald, literally singing along, had us all clapping - pretty genius, if you ask me! I personally did not know what song it was but it was really catchy so I felt she did quite an amazing job!
Contestant No. C06: Jacqueline Leo
I really enjoyed Jacqueline's performance, full of energy, audience engagement, and let's be real: Bang Bang by Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj is always a fun. I just like her vibe haha!
Contestant No. C07: Jasmine Koh
Jasmine sang a song in both Mandarin and Japanese, which I thought was interesting, it was a nice performance and a nice way to calm the energy down as well since the few contentants before her had high energy performances!
Contestant No. C08: Lim Hai Qian
Another delicate and intricate performance - I realised it was categorised as a dance of sorts but I'm sure its a whole other category by itself. I loved how her qipao looked and how she presented the fan as well. It was really quite soothing to watch.
Contestant No. C09: Julie Chan
On a rare occasion, we do have a contestant making a meaningful flower arrangement on stage. I always thought it was interesting - mostly because I personally would have never thought of performing such a thing, but its always nice to hear them share about their thoughts behind the arrangement! I remembered she mentioned how she wanted to work with Sunflowers as they are resilient, so I guess its a reflection of how she wants to be resilient too.
Contestant No. C10: Alison Tea Lee
I was absolutely mind blown when I watched her performance. The amount of core strength needed just to do this is insane! Literally the full performance was her on her head! I think it's safe to say Alison provided the most 'shock' factor in this segment. So cool!!
If you'd like to watch more snippets of the talent round, you can head on over to the t.withqueens instagram page to watch the reels or head on over here to watch ERM's youtube video!
MOMENT OF TRUTH!
We had a tie in the scores so 5 of the ladies will be fighting for the title: Best in Talent next week during the grand finals!
Top 5 Talent (pictured left ot right):
Contestant No. 06: Zoey Peng
Contestant No. 04: Bowie Foong
Contestant No. 07: Sufea Su
Contestant No. C06: Jacqueline Leo
Contestant No. C03: Cheryl Tan
A group pic with our judges!
Congratulations ladies, I can't wait to see what you guys put together for the grand finals!
Now, let's move on to the cooking segment that happened the next day!
The event area was packed!
Family members assisted the contestants through this round, so it was nice to see everyone working in unison to bring the dishes together. For those of you wondering, the contestant will be provided a specific appliance to work with, as well as cooking products such as cooking oil from our sponsors. This year, it was the induction cooker from Russel Hobbs and oils/condiments from KnifeBrand, Naturel SG and Alsco.
I'll leave a little gallery for you guys to scroll through the various dishes that were prepared!
The contestants do not present in order, it simply goes by who raises their hands first. They'll then bring their dishes up to the judges and present more about their process/thoughts on the dish. Usually we'd go around with chopsticks pecking at their dishes once they've presented, but I was a bit tied up this year so unfortunately, I didn't get to taste any of their dishes this time.
Although, I'm quite sure our judges had a good time trying out the dishes!
And we have our three winners!
3rd Place - Contestant No. C01: Meygan Cheng
2nd Place - Contestant No. 09: Joycelyn Pang
1st Place - Contestant No. 04: Bowie Foong
Congratulations ladies! I think Bowie's on a roll here, haha! Super excited to see them all again next Friday at the grand finals. I know there's no vlog this year - I am posting reels, so don't worry. And if you'd like to watch another video on the cooking segment, you can watch it over here on ERM Singapore's youtube channel. Plus there's an intro of them modelling qipaos which I thought was so pretty!!
I hope you guys enjoyed this blogpost, it's been way too long and I'm glad to be back. I hope December has been treating you well! I'll see you guys soon after the grand finals!
xx
Shayne