SPH Magazines’ Female held the finals of the 50 Gorgeous People 2011 competition in a final showdown at Chijmes Hall in early Dec. The competition was started 15 years ago and this year’s lineup included an ex-Wall Street trader, several entrepreneurs, a fashionista and an underground supper club founder.
The preliminary street searches were held at Tanjong Beach Club and Clarke Quay in July earlier this year. Following that was online voting about a month before the finals, which drew more than 4,000 votes.
The Canon IXUS Style Council was present at the signature annual event for Female that searches for men and women with that “G” or Gorgeous factor. Think of it as a combination of style and personality that exuberates a certain star quality. Elliott Danker gives us the scoop at this invites only event.
The Chijmes Hall was certainly an interesting venue to hold the finals. Just looking at the dim lighting of a Victorian era church building with a runway down the middle gave it a very interesting feel all round. It’s hard to actually use words to describe it but it was sort of an “underground” event where only exclusive invites with the location are given out.
So I’d say Female has gone out of their way to make their guests feel special.
But of course, with the whole “underground” look of party lights in a dim environment; it can be quite challenging to get good shots especially with the smoky feel to the place which can cause photos taken with flash to turn out misty.
The trick here would be to switch the flash off totally and use the ‘P’ mode or Program mode on the IXUS and let it decide for you the best settings for the shot. After all, less time spent trying to get the right setting in an environment with ever-changing lighting means more time cheering for your favorite contestant on stage.
Another tip for getting shots of the people on stage is to use the continuous focus with the face detection mode on. With this, once the IXUS has an autofocus locked onto the person’s face, the IXUS will know how to keep the person in focus as he or she walks down the runway.
Oh, and if you are looking for that close up look, feel free to zoom all the way in as the Image Stabilizer on the IXUS does a pretty good job too if you are the type without a steady hand while taking photos.
I think the hardest part about the entire event was first choosing 50 people out of 400 entries and then cutting the number down further to the top 10. Who can do that? Well the panel of judges, which includes Female’s Creative Editor Jeanette Ejlersen and representatives from the sponsors, had to undertake that very difficult task.
They were spot on in choosing the eventual winners - Engaged couple and teenage sweethearts Frederick Yap and Velda Tan, both 24, making it the first time an engaged couple has won the competition in its 15 year history.
Well if you were as near to the stage as I was, you would have been able to tell that they were the hot favourites to win, drawing the loudest screams of support each time either of them took to the stage. Their fans waved 2 huge bundles of helium balloons (probably to signal to them where they were cheering from). The balloons also held up a large banner bearing the couple’s names.
It was quite sweet because you could see Velda’s father really getting into it and cheering his daughter on. Having met her at a previous interview, I must say she was a worthy winner. Frederick too held his own, showing his cool and friendly personality while on stage.
Even our Style Council members too were getting excited as they picked their own contestants to support. I didn’t realise I was screaming and shouting till Kenneth told me. Haha! Perhaps having interviewed the girls of Love, Bonito previously, I naturally supported them.
The gorgeous duo are the people behind the successful blogshop Love, Bonito (which we featured in our first issue). Frederick is the managing director while Velda is the creative director.
I didn’t know this but host George Young announced that Velda had actually quit a banking and finance course to go into fashion design. With the success of Love, Bonito today, I guess you can say she’s a role model to those looking for inspiration to pursue their dreams.
Incidentally, Velda was previously involved in the Canon “Get Jiggy With IXUS” campaign in where she blogged her trails in Sydney Australia with her Canon IXUS in the Sydney Style Journal. (http://www.canon.com.sg/styleaction)
Well as they say, being in love does give you an extra glow and that glow has certainly won the hearts of their fans, friends, family and judges. Congratulations once again to Fredrick and Velda on winning the Female 50 Gorgeous People 2011.
Another IXUS Experience brought to you by the Canon IXUS Style Council