The Miss Universe Japan director, former model Ines Ligron, said the Vietnamese representative for Miss Universe 2009 Vo Hoang Yen owns a “special beauty” but she has made her think of entrants in the Miss Tiffany transsexual beauty pageant in Thailand.

Ines Ligron is a famous trainer of contestants for beauty pageants in Japan. Miss Universe 2007 Riyo Mori is her student. In a recent interview, Ligron gave comments on some outstanding faces at the upcoming Miss Universe 2009, including Vietnam’s Hoang Yen.

“Vo Hoang Yen is very special but she needs to try to become finer. I have seen many photos of her. She looks like a beautiful Miss Tiffany to me sometimes. Hoang Yen is a beautiful girl but she has to quickly build her own style. I wish her the best because I expect success for Asian girls. Good luck to Vietnam!” Ligron said.

Yen said she was not upset by Ligron’s comment because the comment was correct and frank, and not easy to recognize.

“There are some photos of me on the Internet in which I was captured at angles that make me look quite husky. I will learn from them for my next photo shows,” Yen said.

About Ligron’s suggestion of building her own style, Yen said: “I’ll try to develop my image as a supermodel, but not so cold. I’ll smile more and be more cheerful.”

The Performance Art Agency under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism hasn’t received an invitation letter from the Miss Universe 2009 organising board so it hasn’t approved Hoang Yen’s participation. However, Yen is preparing for the event by taking a training course at John Roberts Powers School.

The pageant will take place in the Bahamas this August.

VietNamNet/VNE