HÀ NỘI — After a five-year break Miss Teen Việt Nam will return, featuring Việt Nam’s talented and beautiful teenagers. 

Themed Dream to be a Star, the pageant will be held from June to November to find the most talented and beautiful girl who will be crowned Miss Teen Việt Nam at the November 11 final. 

"Miss Teen Việt Nam 2017 will be held on the largest scale ever," said Nguyễn Thanh Hưng, head of the organising board. "This year, the organisers want to bring the contest closer to contestants in distant areas who can register online for the qualifying rounds."

Girls from 16 to 19 years old and at least 1.55m tall, including Vietnamese living abroad can enter, excluding those who have undergone plastic surgery and transgender people.

Contestants can register at website https://missteen.vn. The 200 highest vote getters and an additional 100 contestants selected by a jury will enter the second round which will take place in Hà Nội, the central city of Đà Nẵng and HCM City from July 30 to August 26. 

The second round will also be held in South Korea to choose three contestants among Vietnamese students in the country for the third round, held in South Korea along with the top 15 contestants from the second round held in Việt Nam.

The third round will be a reality programme featuring the contestants, broadcast on Việt Nam Television Corporation (VTC)’s channel 1 and channel 2 at 8pm every Saturday from September 9 to October 14. 

The final 12 contestants will take part in three categories including evening gown; an áo dài (traditional long dress) performance and question and answer in the final. Prizes up for grabs are Miss Teen 2017 which is worth VNĐ300 million (nearly US$14,000), and VNĐ50 million for Miss Talent, Miss Beauty and favourite contestant title, respectively. 

Miss Teen Việt Nam was held in 2006 for the first time. The pageant is held by the Ministry of Information and Communication’s VTC with support from the Ministry of Education and Training.

"Taking part in Miss Teen Việt Nam is an experiment for all young girls," said Miss Teen Việt Nam 2006 Bảo Thy at the contest launching ceremony last Friday. "It is a chance for contestants to show off their abilities, not only their beauty.”

Bảo Thy is regarded as one of Việt Nam’s first online stars to crossover to the mainstream successfully. She won the Promising Actress prize at Golden Kite Award by Việt Nam Cinematography Association in 2009. — VNS