Beauty queen H’Hen Niê, a member of Việt Nam’s Ê Đê ethnic minority, surprised everyone by placing in top five at Miss Universe 2018. This is the highest achievement for a Vietnamese contestant at international beauty pageants. Her success was down to her great efforts and the help of a professional team of top experts who helped her shine at Miss Universe. This demonstrates the importance of professional training and careful preparation for Vietnamese contestants before they take part in beauty contests.

Miss Vietnam Academy is the first professional beauty training centre in the country. The academy was established with the participation of leading regional and Vietnamese beauty experts to provide professional beauty training. 

Nguyễn Thúy Bình interviews Elite Vietnam General Director Nguyễn Thị Thúy Nga about the Miss Vietnam Academy.

Could you tell us about the academy and how it was established?

Elite Vietnam successfully bought the copyright for the biggest beauty contests, such as Miss World, Miss Universe and Miss International, in 2002. When we visited beauty training centres in Venezuela and the Philippines we understood the importance of professional training. The founding members of Elite Vietnam have our own companies, so this is more of a hobby.

In 2017, I realised it was really necessary to establish a centre for professional beauty training, to help Vietnamese contestants at international contests.

We actually had the idea for the academy ten years ago. We have had relationships with international counterparts in this field, so we had more opportunity than others. Preparation for the academy took about three months. It’s not a long time but it was difficult to invite Miss World Megan Young and Miss Universe Pia Wurstbach to attend the launch ceremony on the same day.

Investment in this field is tough work. Many Vietnamese people can’t afford to spend one or two years learning basic skills, most want to achieve success quickly. It takes a long time to learn basic skills and use them naturally.

Could you tell us about the coaches at the academy?

We signed a contract with the biggest centre for beauty training in the Philippines – Aces & Queens – to work with beauty professionals Rodgis Flores and Jonas Gaffud. These two experts trained Miss World Megan Young, Miss Universe Pia Wurstbach and the latest Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray. We also invited Việt Nam-based French expert Henri Hurbert, top 11 Miss World 2015 Lan Khuê and others to teach at the academy. 

The curriculum has three courses including basic, advanced and professional. The best students will get scholarships to attend training courses in the Philippines with international classmates. 

Training it divided into two kinds. One is for young girls who are qualified to attend beauty contests and one is for people who just want to perfect themselves. To young girls who really want to enter showbiz we will cast them and test them. However, quality is the most important thing because quality and training can make an outstanding contestant. 

How important is it for Vietnamese girls to attend the academy?

Miss Ocean Việt Nam Lê Âu Ngân Anh is being trained at the academy. I hope that she can enjoy a breakthrough year in 2019 because she has a good background, speaks English and can speak French too.

However, she needs to practise at the academy because it is essential if she wants to reach a higher position in world beauty contests or the international market.

The top 3 contestants at Mrs Việt Nam 2018, which finished last month, will attend the academy before world beauty contests this year. Mrs Việt Nam Trần Thị Hiền will compete at Mrs Worldwide in Singapore. Hiền is 49 years old, the oldest contestant at the Mrs Việt Nam contest. She is not only a beautiful woman but also a successful one. She is the owner of a construction consulting company and has raised two children. She also has plans for community projects.

The first runner-up Phạm Thị Hải Yến will participate in Mrs International in the US and the second-runner up Nguyễn Thị Khuyên will take part in Mrs Globe in China. At the academy these contestants will learn performing skills, Q&A sessions, how to act at the contests and presentation skills to be confident and reach the top at international competitions.  — VNS