The Miss Hong Kong 2023 pageant is almost upon us.
After months of selection, the final rounds of interviews for the 26 hopefuls were broadcast last Sunday (July 2).
Four were eliminated, bringing us to the upcoming preliminary event and main pageant, the latter of which is set to be held on Aug 27.
Among the 22 who are shortlisted, these are a few who have caught our attention.
A former Miss Singapore contestant
Michelle Poa is no stranger to pageants.
Back in 2018, she was one of the 18 finalists for Miss Singapore, where she was crowned Miss Singapore Chinatown.
The 22-year-old also participated in Miss Chinese International 2019, where she was unfortunately slammed by netizens for appearing "like a man" or "like she couldn't wake up".
Undeterred by the negativity, Michelle — who was reportedly born in Hong Kong and became a permanent resident of Singapore — is now vying for Miss Hong Kong.
A blonde bombshell
Tall and platinum blonde, Juliana Kwok was a highlight in the last round of interviews.
TVB general manager Eric Tsang was so focused on the 21-year-old's figure that he even said: "I don't remember looking at the shape of her face."
When Miss Hong Kong 2020 winner Lisa-Marie Tse asked Juliana if she would be willing to dye her hair back to black, the latter replied yes.
From her latest Instagram post and photos shared by fellow contestants, it appears that Juliana has indeed gone back to being a brunette - although she may no longer be blonde, she's still definitely still a bombshell.
A Fan Bingbing lookalike
Lovelle Wong has been turning heads for bearing a resemblance to Chinese actresses Fan Bingbing and Angelababy.
Her absence from a round of interviews on June 22 sparked fears that she may have withdrawn from the competition, but a Weibo post from the 21-year-old reassured fans that she was in Beijing for her exams.
She shared a series of photos on Weibo captioned: "The final exam is finally over, it's the holidays."
Lovelle's back and vying for a spot in the Miss Hong Kong finals.
An IU lookalike
She may resemble baby-faced K-pop singer IU, but Hilary Chong calls herself a "gamer" on her Instagram profile.
The 21-year-old was even featured as the winner of the pageant in a Wikipedia leak, which has since been deleted.
Only time will tell whether Hilary is crowned as Miss Hong Kong 2023.
A yoga trainer
Venus Ko is another contestant who has turned heads.
The social media influencer had a sizeable Instagram following of nearly 84,000 even before joining Miss Hong Kong 2023, due in part to her being a yoga instructor.
The 25-year-old also has her own activewear and swimwear line, Bonbons — combining her passion for yoga and diving.
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