Talk on internet forums that the 2006 Miss Vietnam, Mai Phuong Thuy, could represent Vietnam at this year’s Miss Universe contest has sparked off excitement.
Mai Phuong Thuy
While many are rooting for her, some say the biggest problem for her is a possible breast implant she may have had.
However, Miss Universe rules do not prohibit cosmetic surgery of any kind.
Others say there is no precedent of a contestant who won a national beauty contest five years ago competing in the global beauty pageant.
But, according to Elite, the company that trains and sends Vietnamese contestants to international beauty pageants, Mai Phuong Thuy is likely to go to this year’s Miss Universe to be held in Sao Paolo, Brazil, next August.
A website, ABC (name changed), claimed Thuy cannot compete because she is overage. However, Thuy is just 23 and Miss Universe contestants need to be “at least 18 years of age and under 27 years of age by February 1st in the year they hope to compete in the Miss Universe.”
Pham Dinh Thang, the chief of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Performance Art Department, said his Department has no information about who will represent Vietnam.
“We have yet to receive any information about the nominations, so nothing to say now,” he added.
Recently Thuy told an interviewer that she would contest the 2011 Miss Universe if she got the chance.
At 179 cm, Thuy is thought to be the tallest Miss Vietnam ever.
The model and actress is involved in charity work like visiting orphans and providing relief to victims of natural disasters.