Miss Lebanon 2003 Mary Jose Hanin arrived in Beijing – China to take part in the Miss World 2003, which marks the first time in China's history that a beauty pageant is hosted. 110 contestants for this year's Miss World finals arrived in Beijing for the last leg of their charity tour of China. All the contestants were given a warm welcome in Chang'an Hotel, a famous five star hotel in Beijing.
According to the London based Elaph, During their four-day stay in Beijing, they will see the Great Wall, the Temple of Heaven and other sights. They will also go shopping with local people. On Friday evening, the contestants will participate in a fund-raising banquet for disabled and orphaned children at the Great Hall of the People. But the best is yet to come, with the final competition and the award ceremony to be held early next month in Sanya of the southern island province of Hainan.
Nineteen year-old Mary Jose Hanin was crowned Queen at the Miss Lebanon 2003 beauty pageant, one of the most prestigious beauty pageants around the Arab world. Mary, who is a model, was chosen among 16 contestants surviving the 8 weeks of elimination by viewers. Every week a participant was eliminated by viewers votes and only 6 remained for the final moment.
Almost every contestant went home with a title like best dancer, best dressed, and so on. Mary who went home with the number one title as Queen, began her modeling career four years ago when she one the title “Miss Elite Model 1999” by the well-known fashion company Elite. Since then she has won different titles at beauty contests and is known for her talent in ballet dancing.
Lebanese singer Nawal Al Zoughbi was the main surprise of the big event that took place Friday May 23, 2003. All sixteen contestants, even those who were eliminated previously participated in the event that proved to be a huge success and widely viewed around the world.
After the US-led war on Iraq ended, organizers of the pageant called all remaining contests that were sent home to return as soon as possible to the Grand Hill Hotel in Beirut, where they remained once more at the hotel until the final moment away from their homes and all outside contacts.
The organizers of the pageant had decided to attribute a new trend in choosing the new Miss Lebanon 2003 by featuring the contestants in different occasions a number of times live on TV before the final moment is set. The event was divided into several events in which the contestants were filmed live in order for the viewers to make their decision on who should remain to take part in the final event of replacing the current Miss Lebanon 2002, Christina Sowaya. -Albawaba.com
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
