Vu Thu Phuong and Binh Minh with their coveted trophies

In their relentless pursuit of goals undeterred by setbacks, top models set an example to follow.

“I thought the Talented Model Award was all I would get,” says Minh, who won that as well, to top off a highly successful year.

Binh Minh and female supermodel Vu Thu Phuong defeated 26 other contestants across Vietnam to scoop top honors at the second Giai thuong nguoi mau Viet Nam (Vietnam Model Award) this year.

They were crowned the Best Male and Female Model at a grand finale held in Ho Chi Minh City last Sunday.

Each received a cash award of VND200 million (US$11,800) and a return ticket on a tour to the US.

They also walked away with the Talented Model awards.

Minh, considered a senior supermodel in modeling circles, said he was overwhelmed.

“I have made a lot of efforts this year, but I wasn’t very hopeful about winning the loftiest award. I really feel blessed.

“Six years is not a long time, but I’m content with my modeling successes so far. This award marks the pinnacle of my career and what I have done all these years.”

Binh Minh, who left his hometown in the mountainous northern province of Lang Son for HCMC with only a few dong and no friends or relatives in 2002, became the country’s number one male model after winning Vietnam’s Asia Model Hunt Contest the same year.

Since then, he’s starred in a play and about 10 TV series and films, including the hit drama Co gai xau xi (The ugly girl), based on the successful TV series “Ugly Betty” which first appeared in Columbia and then in the US.

“I want to be recognized as a real actor, not a model who acts in films or plays,” says the 27-year-old.

Minh also hosts several programs, including the “Vietnam Manhunt Contest” in 2006, the news program titled “Let’s Café” on Vietnam Television’s VTV9 channel, and a talk show that he has just inked a contract with local entertainment company Lasta.

He was part of the jury in the Miss Vietnam Europe finale held in London last month.

Joys and sorrows

Twenty-three-year-old Phuong is also elated at winning the award.

Before Phuong’s win, she had been compared with Vo Hoang Yen, 20, a leading face in the Vietnamese

fashion, who has won many coveted awards including the crown at the Vietnam Supermodel 2008 competition and the first runner-up at the Miss Universe Vietnam 2008 several months ago.

Phuong had said then that she was not upset by the comparison and would be glad whoever the winner turned out to be.

Both Phuong and Yen have had a successful year so far.

Though this year was marred by the scandal of breaking up with pop singer Tuan Hung and a breast-revealing accident on the catwalk in a fashion show in September, Phuong says she also had several joys this year, including this victory.

She says she encountered considerable difficulties early on, particularly in persuading her family to allow her to enter the modeling career.

She has put that behind her with ceaseless passion and resolve, and has grown to be one of the country’s most prominent models.

Phuong has nabbed several modeling awards including finishing in the top 10 Miss Photogenic held by The gioi Phu Nu (Women’s World) magazine and winning the Promising Model award at the 2006 Vietnam Model Award.

She was among the four Vietnamese supermodels in contention at the Miss FTV 2007 competition in Thailand.

Phuong came into the regional and international limelight recently with a role in the star-studded film “Shanghai,” in which she rubbed shoulders with Hollywood stars like John Cusack, Gong-Li and Chow Yun Fat.

The model, actress and entrepreneur (she owns some fashion stores) is looking forward to taking her career further in the coming year.

Reported by Da Ly