The Miss Vietnam of Northern California pageant celebrated their 26th annual Pageant on February 19th, 2013 at the Santa Clara Convention Center Theater, near the Great America theme park. There were 16 beautiful ladies, all hoping to become the next Hoa Hau Ao Dai Bac California ky 26.
The Finalists:
- Hoa Hau Ao Dai 2013: Tran Le Nguyen Minh (Age: 19 · San Jose)
- A Hau I: Truong Hoang Phung (Age: 24 · Santa Rosa)
- A Hau II: Vu thi Anh Thu (Age: 27 · San Jose)
- A Hau III: Nguyen Pauline (Age: 22 · San Jose)
- A Hau IV: Tran Vu Phuong Hoang (Age: 20 · San Jose)
- A Hau Duyen Dang: Nguyen Diem Sandy (Age: 18 · San Francisco)
- A Hau Than Thien: Ly Hong Yen Yvonne (Age: 24 · San Jose)
Just 3 hours before show time, inside the Santa Clara Convention Center Theater (near Great America Theme park), all the stage, light, and film crew scrambled to get everything just right. Some people woke up as early as 4AM to start the setup.
Nina and her team took care of decorations for this year.
The show began at 3PM. Even though this is a Vietnamese event, we started on American time and that was on-time.
Every year, the ladies open the show with a big introduction. This year they were dressed to impress, with a modern, cool, hip theme. As you can see from head to toe they are covered in style and flare. Never before did the opening number have so much pizzazz! You might just want to put on your own sunglasses!
Sandy, contestant #18, rocks those aviator shades.
Did you know this opening theme was thought up by the one and only show producer and long time emcee, the infamous Huyen Tran? If you scroll down you can see our beloved “Queenie”, as she liked to be called because she’s a queen in her own right.
This is Huyen Tran aka “Queenie”. She is considered the big sister of all sisters in this pageant. She has been volunteering her time and dedication to the pageant since the very beginning. This young lady has many, MANY talents. Not only does she look great, but she possesses outstanding emcee and stage super powers. It was rumored that she was born on a stage with a mic in her hand.
The contestants are about to introduce themselves to the audience. They share with the crowd, their name, age, area of study, and what their future plans.
The ladies in evening gowns. The judges who sit in the front row definitely have the BEST seats in the room.
The audience was mesmerized by all the beautiful dresses these ladies picked out for their evening gown segment.
Standing tall and confident in the middle of this photo is Tran Le Nguyen Minh, just 19 years old. If you didn’t know yet, she’s the new Hoa Hau Ao Dai Bac Cali 2013. To her right is, Tran Vu Phuong Hoang (A Hau IV – 2013). To the far right, it’s Nguyen Diem Sandy (A Hau Duyen Dang – 2013).
Bich Dao, the girl with golden voice! Her singing was absolutely delightful. It was no surprise, she won the Asia Entertainment “The Golden Voice” singing competition in 2011.
The ladies from 2012 Royal Court, display the fine Ao Dai design of Chau Nguyen (artist/designer) in an Ao Dai fashion show. This year and many years before, a lot of the contestants commissioned their Ao Dai’s from him.
Chau Nguyen (ao dai designer) and Jesse ( hair piece designer).
Contestant number 18, Nguyen Diem Sandy waits patiently for her turn to take the stage. The train of her Ao Dai, extends 2-3 feet pass the ground, making it one of the best Ao Dai’s in the show.
What is a Hoa Hau Ao Dai competition without the Ao Dai’s segment? Here the ladies show off their one of kind Ao Dai’s, created by diffferent designers. This year’s style is a fish net mesh fabric, embellished with lots of sequins, rhinestones, and silk flowers.
Tran Le Nguyen Minh also wears an Ao Dai with a long train. Her dress is white scattered with spots of red silk flowers and ruby red sequins that branches outward, all which were meticulously hand sewn.
The Vietnamese traditional long dress called “ao-dai” is worn by all the contestants in this segment of the competition. Tran Le Nguyen Minh picked a white ao-dai, Tran Vu Phuong Hoang chose yellow, Nguyen Diem Sandy wore red, and Truong Hoang Phung selected her favorite color, purple.
Miss Minh’s Ao Dai is so nice it deserves a close up.
Last years royal court, along with Jason Kagi, put on a Romeo/Juliet play for the audience. These dresses worn by the ladies were sponsored by David’s Bridal.
Finally the judges have voted, from left to right these are our lucky top eight semifinalists: Nguyen Diem Sandy, Vu Thi Anh Thu, Nguyen Pauline, Tran Vu Phuong Hoang, Truong Hoang Phung, Tran Le Nguyen Minh, Doan Thuy Thien, and Nguyen Huyen Tran Christine.
From left to right: Vu Thi Anh Thu (A Hau II), Tran Le Nguyen Minh (Hoa Hau Ao Dai Bac Cali) and Troung Hoang Phung (A HauI)
Tran Le Nguyen Minh, our newest Hoa Hau Ao Dai Bac Cali. She only 19 years old.
Being a judge in this pageant can be tough. Now that their job is over, they can relax and take a picture with the winners. Some of the other contestants joined the lineup for a photo too.
The winners of the Miss Vietnam of Northern California 2013 pose with the Mount Pleasant Marine Junior ROTC Color Guard along with their colonel.
An Thu (A Hau II) and Tran Le Minh (Hoa Hau Ao Dai Bac 2013) smile for the camera…while the guy in the background…gosh I don’t know what he’s doing…perhaps taking a breather because there are just so many beautiful ladies in one room!
Our two beloved emcees and Linda Tran (Hoa Hau Ao Dai Bac California 2008) on the far left with the crown pose with the winners.
VietFace TV was there to do coverage at the Pageant.
Tran Le Nguyen Minh, the new Hoa Hau Ao Dai 2013 gave her first televised speech and interview for VietFace TV. A Hau II and A Hau IV stood beside her for support.
Here is the line up of our finalists in this year’s competition, starting from left to right: Nguyen Pauline (A Hau III); Nguyen Diem Sandy (A Hau Duyen Dang); Truong Hoang Phung (A Hau I) ; Vu thi Anh Thu (A Hau II); Tran Le Nguyen Minh (Hoa Hau Ao Dai 2013); Tran Vu Phuong Hoang ( A Hau IV, ); Ly Hong Yen Yvonne (A Hau Than Thien).
As you can see the photographers love Anh Thu (A Hau II)
Le Tuy and Huyen Tran talk to our new Hoa-Hau.
Video by Que Huong Radio
Here is our talented emcee, Hansen Vu Hien, sings while the contestants show off their beautiful evening gowns one last time before exiting the stage. Video by: Le Tuy Films.
Video by Thai Pham
In this video, our new Hoa Hau Ao Dai Bac California 2013, Tran Le Nguyen Minh, accepts her crown, sash, scepter, flowers and big royal queen’s cape. Video by: Le Tuy Films.