Wendy Huang

Sorry for the long awaited pageant post! My schedule has been hectic since the pageant ended and in a few more posts, you’ll see where I have been doing. But first, allow me to take you through my amazing pageant experience in Toronto!

After a long week, the Miss Teen Canada – World Pageant Search is over.

Congratulations to Siera Bearchell, Miss Teen Saskatchewan, for winning the National pageant! She definitely deserves the title Miss Teen Canada – World 2009 and will represent Canada very well at the Miss Teen World pageant in Houston!

As soon as we arrived on Sunday, 54 girls were given our sashes and numbers and sent for our hair and makeup to be done for the photo shoot and video shoot. We got assigned to our rooms and I shared a room with two awesome girls – Katherine Highgate from Ontario and Karmen Guillas from Manitoba. It was a busy day and we ended it with a dinner with the parents and MTC-W staff.

Monday was the busiest day of the week. Many of us woke up at 4:00 a.m. to get ready for the exciting day which started with an appearance at Breakfast Television. We went on the Hippo Tours – the Hippo bus drove into Lake Ontario! - and had lunch at a Greek restaurant. After a fulfilling lunch, we received a make up lesson from PRO Makeup School. We were given a special MTC-W color lip gloss! The day goes on with an appearance on MTV Live followed by a motivation speech from Christopher Headley – director of Toronto Academy of Acting.

We started rehearsal on Tuesday for the opening number with our choreographer, Omar. Then we made our third media appearance which was Much on Demand where we were in the audience. Kate Stark, Miss Teen Canada – World 2008 and Andrea, first runner up of Miss Teen Canada – World 2009 were both interviewed while Aslyan got to have a pillow fight with Tim Deegan. After dinner, Elmer Olsen and his crew talked to us about the reality of the modeling industry.

We were so excited to visit the CN Tower Wednesday morning. I almost got interviewed by a Chinese Newspaper but unfortunately the time was tight and we had to go back to the hotel for more rehearsal. Dinner was one of the most interesting and great experiences. We went to Medieval Times – a place where live performances of jousting entertained us while we ate with our hands. Yes, 54 gorgeous pageant girls ate with their hands that night. It was such a fun night and everyone enjoyed the dinner.

Tension and stress deepened as Thursday came since the Preliminary round was that night. But before that, we had the privilege of attending a somewhat private party held by FAZE Magazine. Many singers were there to perform such as, Shiloh, Jessica Tyler, and the Cunningham Sisters, and a guest appearance from Geordie King. As the publisher of the magazine, also one of the judges, Lorraine, introduced each of us, she chose a representative from each province to do a question and answer on the stage. I was chosen to represent Alberta. Three provinces were to answer questions and the audience voted for who had the best answer. My answer got the second loudest cheer so unfortunately, my staging time at the FAZE party ended there. But the fun doesn’t stop. I had tons of pictures of me taken by the Chinese newspaper that didn’t get a chance to interview me at the CN Tower.

Thursday night: Preliminaries
The make up artists started to arrive as we were rehearsing. The problem was our hairstylists didn’t show up. Girls frantically troubled over how to do their hair for the preliminary competition. I struggled with my hair but in the end, it didn’t look too bad – just a bit flat. At the Betty Oliphant Theatre, every girl got a chance to show their beautiful evening gowns and swim wear on the stage for the judges and audience. This was an important night as the scores determined gave an idea who will be going into the Top 20 on Saturday night. I felt that I did really good and confident in both my walks. I had tons of fun and it felt great to be back on stage again!

Friday morning: Interview
I reviewed liked crazy for my interview to find out that the interview experience was totally not what I had expected. The interview this time was really conversational. Funny thing is, I stood through my whole interview because the judges forgot to tell me to sit down! But it was great to have a conversation with the judges, didn’t make me feel nervous at all. (I was so ready to answer those hard pageant questions though! Ha-ha)

Friday night: Talent
I must say that the delegates of the MTC-W pageant have AMAZING talents! Every singer’s voice was so beautiful, every dancer’s movements were mesmerizing and all the other talents were very original. I did my Chinese Ribbon dance and I got such great feedback. It was really fun to show a bit of my culture.

After the Talent, we went back to the hotel, had dinner and did our Ms. Congeniality voting and gift exchange. We then received our gift bags from MTC-W and the sponsors. I think I now possess a pin from all the provinces from the west to the east and have hair products that I will never use because they are for brunettes and blondes. Ha-ha! It was a great way to end off the night.

Saturday: Final Show
Everyone was exhausted in the morning but ready for the amazing day ahead! We arrived at the John Bassett Theatre and as Chris and Adam went to look for our dressing rooms, we all sprawled out on the floor for a quick nap. It was a pretty funny sight. Our dressing rooms were really nice – we got space to move around and mirrors with great lighting. We started rehearsal on the stage after lunch. At first it was pretty hectic, but it worked out after a few extra runs. As the clock ticked, some girls were getting more nervous. I was starting to get a bit nervous but as we were waiting backstage to go on for our opening number, my nervousness turned into excitement. The whole night I was excited and having so much fun! I was really happy that I won both the People’s Choice Award and the FTC Fundraising Award. Having raised, $10,000, I was honored to present the check of $49,701 raised by all the delegates to Marc Kielburger, Co-Founder of Free the Children.

When the time came to announce the Top 10, I admit, I was a bit nervous. Then when it came time to announce the Top 5, I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t make it, but I am happy that I placed in the Top 10. It is another huge accomplishment for me and the experiences that I had throughout the week has allowed me to grow. I will always remember the amazing memories and hope to stay in touch with the girls from the pageant.

Overall, I LOVED this pageant experience. It was so much fun, so enjoyable and I learned so much! This pageant has allowed me to learn more about myself, go on TV shows, gain important skills and meet tons of people - not only did I get to meet 53 other AMAZING girls, I also had the opportunity to meet Degrassi: The Next Generation actors - Jessica Tyler who performed at the FAZE Magazine party, and Paula Brancati and Adamo Ruggiero who were both our pageant hosts - also, the pageant judges - Christopher Healy of the Toronto Academy of Acting, Lorraine Zander: publisher of FAZE Magazine, Louise Pitre, Clarence Ford, Melani Chong, Maureen Fenn, Julian Brass of NotableTV.com, even Elmer Olsen! Also, our pageant blog assignment giver, Smojoe as a judge! (I do miss our blog assignments a bit haha) I loved our chaperons - Adam and Chris! My hair dressers and make-up artists were awesome. These were such wondeful people and the memories I have created with each and one of them will be stuck with me forever =)

I am not sure if I will continue to compete in pageants in the near future. After the week, I was exhausted, as it was so much work and didn’t want to. But now, I feel that I might go into it again because it was a lot of fun and the experiences you get are worth it. I am thinking of reentering the MTC-W pageant 2010 but I don’t know if it’s possible. I am also thinking of entering Miss Globe Canada. I’ll have to see, I will just concentrate on my first year of university right now.

My many thanks:
First, I would like to thank my family for supporting me in this pageant. Without my mom, I would not have had the courage to compete. Without my dad, I would not have won the People’s Choice Award. Without either of them or my sister and brother, I would not have made it this far. They helped me so much in this pageant. They were my inspiration, my motivation and I am so grateful that I have such wonderful people supporting me in my life.

I would like to thank my friends for supporting me as well. Many words of encouragement kept me going. Some friends allowed me to borrow clothes or other things for the pageant and many helped me with the voting and fundraising as well.

I woulod like to thank Michelle and the MTC-W team for giving us the opportunity to be a role model and make a difference in society. The amazing experiences have allowed me to learn more about myself, grow and gain/strengthen skills that are important.

I would also like to thank my sponsors. Without them, I would probably be in debt right now, ha-ha! I want to thank my pageant sponsors: marketamerica.com/mpeng, China Airlines, Taifen Betsy Corp and Elite Dance Academy. My Free the Children Fundraising sponsors: Taifen Betsy Corp and Panasia Holidays. My media sponsors: Oriental News and YouHomePage. Other sponsors: OMD School, Vibe Studio

For more pictures of the pageant, check out my Facebook! =)