Traditional Chinese ATV亞洲小姐競選 | Simplified Chinese ATV 亚洲小姐竞选 | |
Hanyu Pinyin Jyutping aa zau siu ze ging syun | ||
ATV Miss Asia Pageant formerly Miss Asia Pageant (亞洲小姐競選), is an annual Hong Kong-based beauty pageant organized and broadcast by Asia Television (ATV). Originating in 1985 as a local Hong Kong pageant, the contest went on hiatus from the 2000 through 2003, and was re-branded as an Asian pageant in 2004, with contestants spanning the continent of Asia.
Contents
Beginnings as local pageant
With the success of the Miss Hong Kong Pageant by rival Hong Kong television station Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB), ATV started organizing Miss Asia Pageant in 1985, searching out Hong Kong's representative for Miss Asia Pacific International (then known as the Miss Asia Pacific Quest). The pageant name was a bit of a misnomer back then as Miss Asia Pageant was actually named to match the name of organizer Asia Television Limited, and it was solely intended for local Hong Kong residents to enter.
In 1995, the pageant made history by removing age restrictions for delegates. That year, Aicardi Jiang (宮雪花), at the age of 47 years became the oldest delegate of Miss Asia, placing fifth in the pageant. On the other end of the spectrum, On-Yuen To (陶安仁), was the youngest delegate at the age of 15 years.
In 2000, due to poor ratings and lack of sponsors, ATV announced that the pageant would go on hiatus until further notice.
Post-hiatus
In 2004, ATV rebooted the pageant and re-branded it as an event for not just Hong Kong, but also for the rest of Asia as contestants from other parts of Asia now participate, finally living up to its namesake as an Asia-wide pageant. However, the pageant is still very Chinese focused, with multiple representatives from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China, compared to one contestant from each of the rest of the countries.
As of 2011, Miss Asia Chinese Regional Competitions selects Chinese delegates in several regions: Hong Kong, Macau, Mainland China, Taiwan, Canada, and US. Then, the top performers of these competitions come together for the ATV Miss Asia Pageant Greater China Finals, which also acts as the semi-finals of the ATV Miss Asia Pageant, selecting around 10 finalists (12 finalists are selected in 2013). These delegates are then joined by national pageant winners from other Asian countries to compete the crown of ATV Miss Asia at the Finals.
Also in 2011, the pageant name has been modified to ATV Miss Asia Pageant (ATV亞洲小姐競選), adding the organizer's name to the title, to distinguish it from other Asia-wide beauty pageants.
Whereas the pageant mirrored Miss Hong Kong Pageant pre-hiatus, it now more closely resembles the Miss Chinese International Pageant, which is also organized by rival television station, TVB.
Miss Asia Canada (Toronto) Pageant
Miss Asia Canada, previously known as Miss Asia Toronto Pageant, is an annual beauty pageant organized by ATV and RST Creative Studios that selects Toronto's representative(s) for the annual Miss Asia Pageant that is held in Hong Kong. Despite ATV's cessation of terrestrial broadcasting in Hong Kong - and by extension, the end of the Miss Asia Pageant - Miss Asia Canada appears to be unaffected.