Estee Lauder Model Search Finale 2009

The Estee Lauder model search has now become a staple event in Malaysia. Overtaking the yesteryears' model searches of Guess!.

The finale was on last week. And boy. Was it huge.

EL has nothing if not a big budget. And all the advertisers needed wanted to be in on the scene.

So there were 20 finalists. 10 for category A (29> yr olds), and 10 for cateogry B (30< yr olds).

Judges were:
Katrina Liew - Brand GM of Estee Lauder

Katrina

Lynn Lim - Television Host and Brand Ambassador for Estee Lauder

Lynn and George

George Wong - Product Manager of Sony
Amber Chia - International model

Amber and Miko

Miko Au - Founder and CEO of Miko Hair Studio
Sonny San - Creative Director of eclipse

Amber and Sonny

Andrew Tan - Founder and CEO of andrewsmodels

Andrew and Katrina

Clothes were sponsored by Eclipse, and hair was done by Miko Hair Studios. Andrew also did an intensive 5 hour session with the model on catwalking.

I was honestly not particularly impressed with the 10 finalists. Which surprised me quite a bit because I've heard of many girls who went for the photoshoots, and I'm quite sure many would have been able to compete with the few finalists!

I later found out that the Estee Lauder pictures have been severely photoshopped. More so than normal photoshoots I think. Cos I've gone for one with Majolica before, and I think I still look pretty much like myself. But all EL photos looked completely different from the actual girl!

And with the contestants creating additional false accounts and commenting and voting for themselves, its no wonder that this competition is more than slightly skewered!

Back onto the show...
Naz hobbled on stage with a broken leg and still managed to successfully (albeit with a few standard cheesy lines) with Daphne Iking.

Daphne and Naz

The 20 girls attempted to strut their stuff, but many looked like they overdid it more than anything.

Oh. Which reminds me! Juanita, winner of MDG2, was there as well.

Turns out her many months of model training actually worked, as she walked away with 2 subsidiary titles - eclipse Most Elegant, and andrewsmodels Most Promising Catwalk.

Juanita receiving the prize from Sonny San

Ah yes. Those who followed MDG are probably going "huh?", cos Juanita was definitely nowhere near the best catwalker during that show.

But for the EL model search. She was.

So you can see what I mean by not-such-great-standards.

Anyway, the winners were really the best of the lot, with student Jennifer Perderson walking away with the grand prize for Category A, and Carol Lai, yoga instructor for Makasa, was crowned the winner for Category B.

Carol and Jennifer

Jennifer was also the winner of the last subsidiary title - Sony Most Photo Perfect.

In between, Dennis Lau played his violin for us, partnering with Yuri and Jimmy Sax for an unexpectedly awesome performance.

Yuri, Jimmy and Dennis

I think I should really start buying more Malaysian artiste albums.

At the end of it all, I and the rest of the media did a mad rush to the winners and asked them the standard question of "what made you interested in participating".

Carol Lai just joined for fun, and wants to earn money part time as a model.

Jennifer Pederson joined cos her mom asked her to. She may do part time modelling to earn money while she studies, but mainly she wants to focus on her studies - her passion for art.

Me: So what are you studying?
Jen: Art Management. I'll be going to Singapore to do that soon. I want to learn to manage an art gallery, or sell art freelance.
Me: Ah... Like Charlotte of Sex & The City.
Jen: Yeah! Exactly!

Juanita was the only one who had a typical ANTM answer.
Me: So J, you just won the MDG title. What made you want to join this as well?
J: My brother encouraged me to join. And I've always wanted to model since I was a child. I've always wanted to be in the fashion industry.
Me: Oh really? Fashion industry? Doing what?
J: Err... Modelling. In the fashion industry.
Me: ...
Me: So you only want to model. You're not interested in jobs in the fashion industry?
J: *confused look* No no. I always wanted to be in the fashion industry.

FYI, J, the fashion industry isn't only about modelling. And modelling isn't only about fashion!

Still, a fun event.
Great food. Great company.
The EL ppl were all really awesome.

Me with Sukie, Asst Marketing Manager of Estee Lauder

Xavier, me, Katrina and Sukie

X and I with Mei Foong, PR Manager of EL

And the media were hanging around talking nonsense wif me to pass time away. It was fun getting to know their thoughts and insights.

X with the crazyfun Tita, accounts girl of The Star

X, Reta of Envy mag, and MiMi of Her World mag

Izyan, Vennice, and Rabiatul of local chinese and malay newspapers

And lastly, surprise surprise, for who did I meet but JP. Cindy's Droolboy of MDG season 1.

Me and JP

And though the results of the show were less than appeasing, the running of the show itself was in great grandeur.
Something we will always be looking forward to!

So here's to an even better 4th EL Model Search 2010.