Students compete in cultural pageant

Poise and talent are not the only things contestants must master to win the title of Mr. or Miss Asia. Knowledge of the Asian culture is also expected. At 6 p.m. Sunday, 11 men and 11 women, representing 11 different Asian organizations across campus, will be cat-walking, answering questions and showing their talents on stage at the IU Auditorium.\nSponsored by the Asian Student Union, the pageant is in its seventh year, and admission is free for everyone.\nJunior Dee Wanapun, an executive board member of the ASU and the coordinator of the pageant, said she has been planning the event since November. \nShe said that this year the pageant is especially exciting because this is the first year the event will be at the IU Auditorium. In years past, the pageant has always taken place at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater on Kirkwood Avenue.\n“We’ve been over capacity every year,” Wanapun said. “So we finally moved it to the IU Auditorium this year.”\nThe pageant, Wanapun said, will consist of three major components: the cultural catwalk, a question-and-answer session and a talent portion.\nDuring the cultural cat-walk, contestants will dress in traditional outfits that represent their cultures. These contestants will be judged based on their confidence and poise, Wanapun said.\nContestants will also be judged based on their answers to two questions. Wanapun said the first question, which will be a more “in-depth” question, is given to the contestants on Saturday, 12 hours in advance. This question will show the contestants’ knowledge of their respective countries. \nThe second question will be randomly picked out of a bowl while a contestant is on stage. This question is usually general and is designed to bring out the contestant’s personality.\nThen the contestants are asked to do a performance that is representative of their culture and organization.\nFreshman Yitong Wang, the contestant for the Chinese Students and Scholars Association, said she will play the “gu zheng”, a traditional Chinese stringed instrument, and perform a fan dance with 10 other CSSA members.\nSophomore Chuk Li, the other representative of CSSA, said he has been preparing to perform a traditional lion dance, a modern dance, as well as some beat-boxing. \nThe contestants from the Asian American Association, junior Samantha Loo and senior Chino Jeng, said they will break dance for the talent portion. Loo said she will also sing in Chinese. \nAfter the talent show is a ensemble dance, in which all the contestants perform a choreographed routine. \nThe winners are decided through the votes of four judges, including one student and three IU staff members.\nAlthough the amount has not been decided, Wanapun said there is definitely a cash prize. \nBut to many, the prize is not the reason they joined.\nLi said he joined because he wanted to represent CSSA, but also because he wanted to meet new people.\n“I joined to make new friends,” he said. “It’s going to be a good experience, and I’m going to learn a lot of things from it.”\nJeng said the key to winning is communication but agreed that winning isn’t everything.\n“It’s not about competing,” he said. “It’s about knowing where you came from. So it’s not a competition, but a celebration.”