Due to safety protocols, COVID-19 has prevented many important events from happening, including beauty pageants. Miss World 2020, Miss International 2020 and 2021 are examples of competitions that were put on hold.
Therefore, as soon as the pandemic appears to be winding down, organizers were quick on their feet to host these beauty pageants. By the end of 2021, Miss Universe and Miss Grand International 2021 were successfully held. Miss World 2021 finally pushed through on March 16 with Miss Poland bringing home the crown.
On the bright side, these delays allow contestants have more time to prepare for their competitions. Although their reigning time might be shortened, their skillsets are no inferior to their predecessors. Such intense and careful preparation might be the reason why Vietnam has bagged various titles recently.
Here are four Vietnamese pageant title holders – beauty queens and kings – who have brought glory to the country recently.
Miss Grand International 2021 - Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien
On December 4, 2021, the Vietnamese audience was overwhelmed with happiness as Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien was crowned Miss Grand International 2021. With less than a month of preparation from when she was crowned Miss Grand International Vietnam 2021, Thuy Tien's accomplishment surprised the public.
Thuy Tien was born on August 12, 1998, in Ho Chi Minh City. She studied French at Viet Nam National University Ho Chi Minh City, University of Social Sciences and Humanities. In 2019, she took up International Hotel and Restaurant Management at Hoa Sen University.
In Miss Grand International 2021, on the topic of world peace, she made remarkable impressions by including a Thai sentence in her speech. which translates to “Make the world a better place for everyone" and holding a three-finger sign representing her spirit to fight for peace and democracy.
Mister National Universe 2022 - Ngo Hoang Phi Viet
If Bangkok has brought Thuy Tien her title, Ngo Hoang Phi Viet was also crowned as Mister National Universe 2022 in the same city. Phi Viet was born in 1997 and now works as a financial consultant, despite graduating from Van Lang University with a Public Relations diploma.
Before Mister National Universe 2022, Ngo Hoang Phi Viet is a well-known personality among the fitness communities in the country. He has always been tough on himself with intense workouts paired with strict diet plans. In 2021, he was the runner-up in Vietnam Fitness Model.
In Mister National Universe 2022, the top 3 - South Korea, Bhutan and Vietnam - had the same scores so the judges decided to have one more interview round. In spite of limited English abilities, Phi Viet has successfully answered the question “Do genders matter in love?” with no interpreter.
Mister Supranational Asia 2022 - Bui Xuan Dat
Vietnam already has two Miss Supranational Asia titles, and Bui Xuan Dat is the first to become Mister Supranational Asia. He was born in 1996 and is commonly known by the name Dat Kyo.
Xuan Dat used to be a very skinny guy and wasn't confident about his appearance when he weighed 56kg and height of 1.83 m. After a long period of constant training and exercising, he experienced an 18kg weight gain and a lot of changes in his look. Before Mister Supranational 2022, he participated Vietnam Fitness Model twice and finally won in 2019.
At Mister Supranational 2022, although Xuan Dat couldn't achieve the highest titles, he made it into the top 10 of the competition and brought home the title of Mister Supranational Asia 2022 for the first time for Vietnam.
Miss Supranational 2022 (2nd Runner Up) - Nguyen Huynh Kim Duyen
At the age of 27, Nguyen Huynh Kim Duyen has participated in various beauty contests, including Miss Vietnam 2016, Miss Universe Vietnam 2019, Miss Universe 2021, and Miss Supranational 2022. This beautiful woman was born in 1995 and comes from Can Tho. Ever since college, she competed in beauty contests such as Miss Ao Dai in 2014.
In Miss Universe Vietnam 2019, Kim Duyen was the first runner-up. While Khanh Van (Miss Universe Vietnam 2019) competed in Miss Universe 2020, Kim Duyen was appointed to participate in Miss Universe 2021 and made it into the top 16. One year later, she joined Miss Supranational 2022 to represent Vietnam.
Throughout the competition, Kim Duyen showed a wonderful performance with additional prizes like Supra Chat Interview and Supra Model Asia. To date, the 2nd runner-up at Miss Supranational is the highest recorded achievement for Vietnam in this title.