HÀ NỘI – Thirty contestants will compete for the Miss Việt Nam 2016 title at a grand finale at Phú Thọ Indoor Stadium on Sunday.

The contestants, in the 18 to 25 age group from across the country, will shine at the finale in the áo dài (long dress), swimsuit and evening gown rounds. The top five will compete in a question-and-answer session.

The winners of the pageant’s eight distinct contests — beauty with purpose; beauty swimsuit; talent champion; and Miss Integration; besides beauty skin; beauty hair; beauty face; and beauty áo dài and beauty evening gown will be announced at the finale.

The beauty with purpose title winner will go straight into the top five and participate in the pageant’s question-and-answer session.

This year, six potential contestants in the final list had to leave the contest due to many reasons. The most common reason was that most of them had dental surgery to make their teeth perfect, disqualifying them from the beauty contest, which respects natural beauty.

Two of them, Lê Trần Ngọc Trân and Trần Thị Thùy Trang, were from the central Thừa Thiên Huế Province. Trân has a beautiful Vietnamese face and Trang was one of the tallest contestants at 1.80m.

“I have to say that some contestants who had dental treatment appeared in the finale list, revealing a weak point of the pageant organisation,” Lê Xuân Sơn, head of the organisation board, said. “There was only one doctor to check the anthropometry of about 150 contestants a day. There was a work overload.

“However, 30 contestants competing at the finale are not bad. I think this number will not affect the stage setting.”

Time to abdicate: Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Duyên (middle) and the two runners-up of Miss Việt Nam 2015. — Photo 2sao.vn

Sunday’s finale, the largest ever in the history of the Miss Việt Nam pageant, will be aired live on Việt Nam Television’s Channel 1 and Channel 9 and 14 local television studios.

South Korean artiste Bi Rain will perform that night. It will not be his first performance in Việt Nam, but the event will be aired live on national television. Other Vietnamese artistes such as Thu Minh, Hà Anh Tuấn, Tóc Tiên and Noo Phước Thịnh will also perform at the finale.

The Miss Việt Nam 2016 winner will wear a new crown that has 63 pearls and about 3,300 sapphires, and is worth VNĐ2.2 billion (US$98,000). The winner will receive VNĐ500 million (US$22,000) in cash and will live in a five-star apartment in District 7 in HCM City for two years.

The first and the second-runners up will receive VNĐ300 million ($13,000) and VNĐ250 million ($11,000), respectively. The top three winners will have a tour of two Japanese cities of Fukuoka and Nagasaki in October.

The seven-member jury will be chaired by historian Dương Trung Quốc. The finale will be hosted by stage director Hoàng Nhật Nam.

The Miss Việt Nam contest has been held biennially since 1998. It is the oldest beauty pageant of unified Việt Nam. — VNS