Contestants of the China finals of the 61st Miss World pageant during a sports skills test in Wuxi city, East China's Jiangsu province, Aug 31, 2011. [Photo by Zhan Denggui / For China Daily]

Driving forces

It is not that the current crop of contestants are not aware of their role when judged by others, but that they are more focused on the positive outcomes of their winning.

Liu Chen, champion of this year's China final of the 61st Miss World pageant, is not afraid she may be perceived as a wallflower.

"It starts with physical appearance, which is what both men and women will first notice in you, but then they will find out whether you are loving and smart," she says.

Yu Weiwei, second runner-up, is more blunt: "I don't see it as men cherry-picking women. This is not like emperors selecting concubines. If you don't know what you want, you may feel hurt being culled and winnowed. But if you know, you're your own master. And if you adopt a feminist view, there is always Mr. World."

According to Wang Dong, the audience for beauty pageants has a male-female ratio of 54-46, which means women have a lot of say in the affair and therefore would not allow potential beauty queens to toe the male chauvinist line.

Yu says she wants to help others, such as hungry children. She comes from a poor village and raised 300,000 yuan to help victims of a mudslide in her hometown.

"After I took part in the pageant, I turned my looks from an adjective into a verb because there are so many things I can do now."

Even though she did not get the crown, what she did learn through the process was enough to benefit her for life, she said.

"Whenever I appear in public, I'll watch how I sit and speak. I suggest every girl try it once, it doesn't matter if you win or not. Even an ugly duckling can transform into a swan."

Liu Chen feels she is closer to her career goal of becoming a performer in musical theater now that she was crowned a beauty queen.

The 25-year-old started entering pageants at the age of 17.

"Both my parents and my teachers encouraged me. I learned how to have poise and how to use makeup, but the biggest thing I learned is that my biggest opponent is myself."

"Liu Chen combines traditional Chinese grace with a global vision," said Wang Dong. "She specializes in musical theater, which infuses her with Western culture."

But the overlapping of model contests and beauty pageants is coming to an end.

"Beauty pageants are designed to spruce up a city's image and boost its tourism while model contests are the best way for talent scouting for the fashion industry," said Li Xiaobai, chairman of the board for China New Silk Road Models Organization.

In the same spirit, Wang Dong wants to extract beauty shows from model contests by de-emphasizing height and put a spotlight on talent. Those are the qualities that can be conveyed by the television camera.

"Pageants have become homogenized and few contestants can leave a lasting impression. But talent and personality can differentiate one from another," he says.

And the more people are glued to the screen, the more economic value will ultimately materialize from it. That's when beauty is not only visually glitzy, but financially gratifying.