New Face semifinalists chosen

The New Paper New Face kicked off its 25th anniversary with two firsts.

For the first time, the walk-in audition was combined with the closed-door audition.

Last Saturday, those selected via online submissions were invited to meet the panel of judges at the closed-door audition. But earlier in the morning, those who missed out could drop by for the walk-in audition.

That proved to be fortuitous for student Tan Zhi Shien, 18, whose online application was rejected. Determined to get a second shot, she went for the walk-in at the Subaru showroom in Leng Kee Road, qualified for Round 2 and clinched a spot in the semi-finals.

Said Miss Tan: "I wanted to try my luck, there was nothing to lose. I felt really surprised and excited when I got through."

She added that she had felt intimidated by the strong competition as many contestants had modelling backgrounds.

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Miss Tan was one of about 50 girls who turned up at the Subaru showroom for the walk-in audition with 20 making it to Round 2 - the closed-door audition. The rest of the 144 who came down were successful online submissions that went straight to Round 2.

The field was then whittled down to 24 semi-finalists.

Two of the semi-finalists are the German-Singaporean Huth siblings. In a New Face first, Noelle, 14, and sister Naomi, 17, became the first siblings through to make it to the semi-finals in the same year.

Joint-youngest contestant Noelle said: "We are going to be there for each other and do something new together."

Joining her in the Top 24 was fellow 14-year-old Melanie Kasise, who feels she has what it takes, despite her age. She said: "I may be lacking in experience, but I am willing to try my best."

The atmosphere was tense and quiet when the Top 24 were announced at around noon.

The news did not come easy for those who were eliminated.

But some, such as air stewardess Mandi Cheung, were not disheartened. She said: "I am feeling okay, and I still think it was great. I might try again."

The selection was also a difficult call for the panel of six judges, which included Mr Glenn Tan, executive director of Tan Chong International.

He said: "It was a challenging task to shortlist the girls as some of them really stood out during the auditions. So it will be interesting to see how the competition pans out."

Fashion director and creative curator Daniel Boey, 52, agreed. He said: "I wish we could've picked more, because there were many borderline choices."

New Face alumna and judge Aurelia Ng, 24, said she was happy with her choices.

"They were versatile and confident."