Finalists for the "Vietnamese Sea Queen 2013"
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism decided on June 1 to revoke the license for the “Nu Hoang Bien” or Vietnamese Sea Queen Contest just before its semifinal round planned on June 2-3, forcing expectant contestants to withdraw.
According to the ministry, the contest did not fully comply with Government Decision 79 on art performances, fashion shows and modelling events.
Only 59 out of 114 contestants in the primary round sent their registration dossiers to the organisation board. Among 40 contestants who were selected for the semifinal round, four had not registered.
Another violation was that the organisation board failed to declare information on the contestants during the primary rounds, held in Hanoi, HCM City and Nha Trang. The first round of the contest also lacked a judging panel, which was only set up on May 28, after the end of the first stage of the competition.
The organising board has said that they are planning to file a complaint, and did not agree with the ministry's decision to revoke their license.
Nguyen Phong Quang, Director of Rong Viet Company, deputy head of the contest’s organisation board, said the revoking of the license was abrupt and unexpected.
“We were requested a meeting with Nguyen Dang Chuong, Director of the Art Performing Department, as well as Vu Xuan Thanh, Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on May 31. We had no planned format for the discussion, but we hoped to come to an agreement as far as the content of the performance. Instead, we were shocked to find out that the contest's license was revoke on the next day," said Quang.
Quang admitted that, "Some of the 40 contestants selected for the semi-finals hadn't completed their full dossiers, but this was a result of the difficulties related to being away from home. We required them to complete the application process before June 1, but the inspection by the ministry was completely unanticipated."
Quang disagreed with the decision, saying that they had already received all registration dossiers from 148 contestants, including several registrations via the contest’ website for the primary round.
He added that Tham Hoang Diep, Dr. of Anthropometry, was keeping all relevant documentation, but was not in Nha Trang at the time of the inspection, so the papers were not readily available to the inspection team.
"As far as the judge panel, we were in close contact with several experts, including Doctor of Aesthetics, Pham The Hung, as well as Doctor of Anthropology, Tham Hoang Diep and Miss Vietnam World 2010. But, because of the surprise investigation, not all of them were able to confirm their participation. This was the reason for the delay in the set up of the panel of judges," he added.
