Definite signs of deterioration. No doubt about it. Though the opening was interesting but still…the entertainment parts were always way better for some reason. I must say that each year they managed to come up with a different theme. Not bad. The contestants were introduced and they had to list why they were eligible to enter the next round. Man, most of them were definitely bragging. Guess they were testing to see if the contestants could be witty without being arrogant. BUT it was hard.
The hosts: Eric, Louis, and Sonija…
Judges: Pauline, Gallen, Charmaine, Hacken, and some others…
Definitely signs of TVB using internal resources more than ever. Gallen looked so handsome though! (mwuhahaha) Charm looked so cute in that outfit. (Okay, I know half of the population hates her but I love her since she won me over.)
Scenes when they were outside usually made them look better for some reason. Strange…
After Patrick Tang and some people performed, we were finally led into the questioning part. PHEW…not sure how worse it could get but whatever. Sonija got to introduce the contestants while Eric and Louis were in charge of grilling the contestants. GOSH…it was killing me. Eric and Louis should’ve killed them all already so they couldn’t pass. #6 was all right. At least she didn’t stutter. (Though it was all right that she mixed her languages.) Where in the world did they get all these contestants? AND poor Eric, had to look up so much. These girls were honestly too tall. #18’s question was funny. George Washington was still holding the ax, LOL! Darn! These girls were killing me. Shirley’s question was the easiest BUT she didn’t get it? How slow could she get? Only like about three could provide some decent answers.
Jordan Chan will take them to Japan? Poor Jordan! I actually liked the effects where Jordan was drawing/painting and the pictures came to live. That was about it. Then there was also the part they were transported to the city and other areas. Very exotic and cool. That was about it. No comment regarding the ‘beauties’. I thought they looked better when they covered up because their bodies were too much of a sight to me. (Seriously, I must agree with Eric that most of them looked like they haven’t gone through puberty yet.)
Last part before they picked top 12? Joey Yung and Ekin Cheng. (What a coincidence!) Joey Yung looked better than the contestants! (I know that was mean but honestly.) Interesting story. Kind of cute… I’d already gone out of the ‘Ekin’ phase so I wasn’t really paying attention. (But I think Ekin must have improved in his singing or something? Since he sounded better than the last time.) The settings were quite grand though. The crew totally made it happen.
Miss Photogenic? Shirley got it? Umm…no comment. I guess she seemed better than most of them for some reason.
They were each given a lamp and would take the label off. The ones who got the ‘X’ would be out.
Gilbert Lam was the person who introduced the judges at the beginning of the second part? Cool! I totally forgot about him! He’s so cool. Too bad he didn’t get to stick around much. Or perhaps that was better since it would be too much to stand.
(I didn’t want to say it before but I was seeing the pattern of Angels of Missions people in here. BUT of course, AOM was after this. Still interesting to see.)
I totally forgot that Leon was in here also since he opened up the show with his performance. (Snore-land though it was an upbeat song.) The whole time he was singing, I was like, “Hand it to Aaron already.” Mean, I know. But I was yawning too much. He’s not suitable for upbeat songs.
The next part was funnier though–much more entertaining–since Hacken was seen walking along with Natalis and Alan on the camels, trying to find their way to the show, LOL. Natalis and Alan were pondering if they were lost, LOL. And then Hacken was saying they heard Leon’s voice so they must be going in the right direction. Alan was even saying how Hacken was easily fooled by Eric’s words (i.e. he was the one who told them the directions, lol). Then the contestants got to tell everyone their dreams and/or goals. But Natalis, Alan, and Hacken’s rants were funnier. Eric had been in some sort of accident (according to their recounts) so he was unable to make it.
The next part was cool since they managed to invite this one pro acrobat lady to do some really cool tricks. Then Bernice Liu came out, dancing and singing. Cool. Suitable for the theme. She was so glamorous. Okay, the contestants had to use the objects given to describe one another. They were divided into pairs, of course. I loved Alan and Hacken! They were so funny, arguing with each other like that instead of asking the questions, LOL. Bernice changed again to continue the song–or at least until the next sets of contestants came out. Watching the contestants try to find some compliments to praise each other with the objects given was too funny! At least they were improving. OR it seemed to get a tad better than having them answering trivial questions. Bernice changed again! Whoa! That was fast. Anyway, still cool.
Okay, the next part of questioning–more trivial questions, LOL. There were three sets of questions–middle school, high school, and college. (OR something like that.) If they answered correctly, they would advance one step up. If not, they would be lowered one level. The questioning would start at their current educational level. The contestants changed outfits again. Nice outfits, LOL. I think the contestants were better in these set of questions since they were more used to the straight fact question/answer than the critical thinking ones. At least it was reassuring on some level since it would be more encouraging to watch. Shirley did slightly better in this one.
The next part was a really cute yet entertaining story. Aaron Kwok and Coco Lee. (I was a bit surprised that they were able to invite Coco to participate.) Aaron got to sing his “Para Para” song! LOL! (This sort of solved my question with why Aaron wasn’t opening before. This was more fun.)
Anyway, after that, we got to witness the contestants sing and dance with 60 children. The children were so cute! (I don’t know, I just didn’t care as much for the contestants regardless of how much they improved for this round.)
They were trying to do it differently this year. Getting rid of three at a time until they reached the top 5. Don’t know it would come to that but I guess it was something to keep people tune in. Hacken was so funny!
Eric’s return. Awww…Alan was subbing for Eric. Just when Eric returned, they made him be the bad guy to eliminate three contestants, LOL. Still funny. What was Hacken looking at, kept staring at Eric’s head? So funny that Eric was reassuring the others to come back next year, LOL.
More questionings. They were given a statement and then they had to pick if they agreed with the phrase or not. Then they had to argue for or against it. Alan was too funny! He lost during the first time! He and Hacken were cracking me up! Hacken was saying how Alan was only the witness and did not have to input. It got even funnier when they were attempting to translate for this one contestant. Then Alan translated before she was even finished. Natalis was poking at Alan for it. (Actually, he was pretending to talk about Alan with Hacken, LOL.) Man, it was way funnier watching the hosts argue. Man, Natalis’ comment!
They invited Anne to help with determining who had beautiful skin? Shirley got it. I guess the judges were careful and inspected everything so no complaints.#3, #9, and #18 got the creativity prize since they were able to impress the judges with their cooking skills and creativity.
I totally forgot that Jacky was in here! Cool! I guess it wouldn’t be complete without him. Jacky and Kelly Chen? OKAY…but for all the fun of it. Funny ending since he was just dreaming and his wife (portrayed by Kelly) was rousing him up. So much for it…(LOL) Again, save the best for last, right? Since it was supposed to be the last performance before they eliminated three more. But the top 12 got to return so they could announce the ‘most improved’ prize and the Miss International Goodwill. #4 got ‘most improved’ and #6 got Miss International Goodwill. Not bad. I don’t know. Somehow they looked better around this time.
Alan, Hacken, and Natalis were arguing over who should sing for the last part? But they ended up using the dancing routines to determine who was the top 4. At least they didn’t have to argue. That was interesting that Johnson Lee was one of the ones holding the sign up when they were answering the last round of questions. #2 and #3 got eliminated after that.
The ones who were eliminated had to come out and tell us who they supported to be the winner. #6 got third place, #4 got second, and of course, Shirley got first. Not bad. NOT the best of all time, but I guess it will have to do.