The audience will have a say in choosing the winner by sending their votes on SMS.

The biennial pageant aims at honoring professional models’ contributions to the fashion industry over the last two years.

With the participation of many outstanding models, the final round promises many challenges and has attracted intense speculation from public and experts.

A leading face in Vietnamese fashion, Hoang Yen, 20, is believed to be a leading contender because she has won many prestigious awards including the crown at the Vietnam Supermodel 2008 competition and the first runner-up at the Miss Universe Vietnam 2008 several months ago.

Another outstanding candidate is Ngoc Quyen, who is considered a strong challenger to Yen in the beauty contest. She has been highly acclaimed by fashion magazines.

She mostly performs at big shows across the country like Fashion Week, held by Dep (Beauty) magazine. Quyen also took part in the Asian Model contest last year.

Vu Thu Phuong, 23, is another model in the leading pack. She came into the limelight recently with a role in the star-studded film “Shanghai,” in which she acted with Hollywood film stars like John Cusack, Gong-Li and Chow Yun Fat.

However, she could be handicapped by the scandal of breaking up with pop singer Tuan Hung and the breast-revealing accident on the catwalk.

In the male section, with a lot of experience and many important prizes, Binh Minh is considered a senior supermodel in modeling circles.

Minh rarely shows up in fashion shows these days because he is busy with other work like acting in films, emceeing shows and doing photo shoots.

Besides Minh, there are many young models in the fray, including Duc Vinh, Quang Hoa, and Xuan Thu.

With the advantage of his 1.87-meter height, Duc Vinh won a consolation prize at the Mr. World 2006 contest held in China.

Quang Hoa won the Manhunt 2007 in Vietnam while Xuan Thu won the first prize at the Vietnam Supermodel 2008 alongside Hoang Yen.

Mister International 2008 Tien Doan has not entered the contest due to his “Mister” mission in Singapore.

Besides the highest prizes awarded based on votes by the audience, the organization board will give away six others including best body, best performing style, most photogenic and most talented model.

Each category of prizes will have a male and female winner.

The final round and the awards ceremony will take place tonight at Lan Anh Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City and be broadcast live on Vietnam Television’s VTV3 Channel at 8 p.m.

Reported by Bao Tran