from The Electric New Paper
MISS ASIA PAGEANT 2006
Did they FLASH too much FLESH?
Beauty contest controversy over skimpy outfits and 'warerobe malfunctions'
02 November 2006
THE 24 contestants had trouble keeping their modesty intact at the Miss Asia 2006 beauty pageant held in Macau on Sunday night.
Thanks to the skimpy swimsuits, plunging necklines and translucent cheongsams they had to parade around in throughout the night, there was more than one case of 'wardrobe malfunction'.
Miss Japan, Mika Iwasaki, 22, accidentally exposed herself during the swimsuit segment, but was luckily protected by body tape.
The evening gown segment teased even more, with the girls walking dogs on stage while dressed in flimsy gowns with necklines dipping to their navels.
MingPao Daily reported that because the contestants were trying to control the dogs, many of them showed more than they intended to.
Miss Korea, Jeong Ju Ri, 22, was one of them.
Oriental Daily reported that after she knelt down to play with her dog, Miss Jeong stood up, and her gown slipped open.
Miss Taiwan, Bella Chen also courted controversy when she squatted in her evening gown with her 36-D assets threatening to spill out, and blew kisses to the crowd.
Dubbed Taiwan's Pamela Anderson, Miss Chen was rumoured to have had a boob job, as her vital statistics entered for another pageant in 2004 showed her to be only a 32-C.
According to Apple Daily, Miss Chen retorted that she had topped up her assets the natural way - through acupuncture.
The pageant was organised by Hong Kong broadcaster ATV.
While more than 1.3 million Hong Kongers tuned in to this pageant, which is touted as one of the sexiest ever to be held, Miss Asia 2006 came under fire by some, for being too saucy.
Netizens slammed the pageant as 'cheap' and 'shameless', and complained that the male emcees used inappropriate language to describe the contestants' assets.
Even the winner, 16-year-old Kazakhstan teen Daryna Shevchenko, was not spared.
She was accused of having an affair with one of the judges, and slammed by a fellow contestant for not deserving her win.
Hot favourite contestant Miss China (Shandong) Dong Yue, 22, was so upset over not being placed that she told reporters backstage: 'This is a big joke. What does she have? I really don't know what they (the judges) saw in her.'
There was also talk that the pageant results were fixed, and Miss Shevchenko had won only because of 'connections'.
But the teenager flatly denied the talk and said that she was not going to let the rumours dampen her joy. The student, the youngest-ever winner of the pageant, won for herself more than HK$2 million ($400,000) in cash and prizes.
She credited her win to her relaxed attitude: 'The rest of them were too competitive. I won simply because I wasn't under any pressure.'
The Miss Asia pageant has yielded some celebrities over the years. Sexbomb-turned- businesswoman Veronica Yip was the second-runner-up in 1985, while actress Kristy Yang was the winner in 1995.