Sorry, totally forgot to post my review for this.
This year was sadly a disappointment for MrHK, I thought last year might revive this contest but instead it has become more low-key. The contestants were on the whole weaker; though there were still some good choices, whilst the production and hosting all went downhill.
Before I move onto actual discussion of the contest I want to rant about the hosts. Please, never include Hanjin Tan ever again! This is nothing to do with vanity but I just find his jokes plain annoying. And Sharon's styling? Awful. Also stop promoting Jacqueline Chong whilst let Koni lose again! It seems as if TVB reigned in the craziness this year, the hosts were all boring - perfect group would be Dodo, Christine, Miriam and Koni (50s,40s,30s,20s).
Production value was also shite. Firstly the intro dance segment was weird and uncoordinated, the guys looked so unrehearsed and the music echoed massively and oh the hairstyling was dreadful (Clayton, never ever let anyone put that monstrous birds nest thing on your head ever again). The 90s esque Japanese monster-TV costumes were awkward and unrelated whilst the worst part of it all was how they announced the winner, it was really a "oh, is that it" moment - no suspense at all.
Anyway back onto the contest (mixed in with a bit of ranting)
The punch sequence was the oddest thing I've seen on MrHK, odder than girls dressed as shrimp being lifted up by speedo wearing contestants, way to go TVB for showing the most unflattering look for each contestant. And here they are in all their glory.
...
Mr Photogenic anyone?
Now onto the more serious side of the competition, lets have a look at how the 11 contestants fared. I gave points to contestants in the Swimsuit segment and the Talent segment, these two were the main parts but I also scored them on other things so the rankings of adding the Swimsuit and Talent scores won't correlate with my final ranking. All scores were relative, that's how I like to score contests.
No.1 Edmond Siu
Undoubtedly along with Clayton they are the best looking guys in the bunch so there was no doubt in my mind Edmond would go far but as I said the competition was his to lose and sadly he lost it. He was always a strong contender but in a votes based contest like MrHK you really need to be the standout in at least one segment but Edmond never was so he only had his looks to lean on.
In the swimsuit segment Edmond was hot, he's a good looking lad with a very lean, tall but muscular physique, in fact I think most skinny Asian guys would dream of having his physique but what Edmond lacked was that charisma to make him truly enticing. He flaunted his goods but he didn't sell it.
SWIMSUIT RANKING - 35.9 (4TH)
AUDIENCE VOTES - 147 (5TH)
Edmond's talent further sidelined him, it was a very well executed dance routine but it wasn't memorable, not many dance routines are especially when four other contestants did similar things. If you can't think of a talent I'd steer clear away from dancing or anything related to sport because you can easily look amateurish or plain boring.
TALENT RANKING - 35.71 (5TH)
AUDIENCE VOTES - 227 (8TH)
No.2 Honda Hui
Honda was sadly the "joke" of the contest because of his questionable talent performance which got the girls laughing (and voting) but before his "talent" nobody really cared for him. Personally I think he did an ok job in the Swimsuit segment, yes he's carrying some flab but at least he's well proportioned and generally toned. What I like about Honda is that he puts passion in everything he does and manages to come out smiling whatever happens. However he was never going to make it any further, not even with me.
SWIMSUIT RANKING - 35.49 (7TH)
AUDIENCE VOTES - 34 (11TH)
A lot of the audience found his talent amusing but I didn't! I wanted to rinse my ears out after listening to it. He was the least talented of the lot and that's saying something. Lets not linger on here.
TALENT RANKING - 35.03 (11TH)
AUDIENCE VOTES - 291 (4TH)
No.3 Derek Wong
I just wonder what would have happened if the talent segment was before the swimsuit segment? Would Derek have got many more votes and therefore made the Top 4 and possibly had a chance of winning because of his charm and eloquence? Maybe. It wouldn't be to my taste but there was potential there for him to make a shock because the Top 4 debate was an absolute shambles I'm sure Derek would have swooned the girls over to his side if he was in it.
But back to his swimsuit segment. He showed confidence overall but his physique is not that pleasing to look at because of his disproportionate body, it's not that bad in the above photo but his hips are far too wide in comparison to his upper body.
SWIMSUIT RANKING - 35.46 (8TH)
AUDIENCE VOTES - 100 (8TH)
To me Derek's talent was questionable. He used every stereotype in the book and nearly trod passed the line to derogatory but I applaud him for producing an original performance showing some talent in the process unlike some candidates who took the easy root cough:clayton:cough.
TALENT RANKING - 35.78 (3RD)
AUDIENCE VOTES - 379 (1ST)
No.4 Paul Yiu
Paul tried to capitalise on his flexibility as a dancer but in the end it looked awkward to me. He tried to sell himself as the sexy latin dancer thus he added a lot of hip movements into his swimsuit segment. |Unfortunately he looked like an untamed monkey to me because of his wildly pulsating hip movements. His physique was also a bit too common thus he faded into the background
SWIMSUIT RANKING - 35.32 (10TH)
AUDIENCE VOTES - 136 (6TH)
It wasn't difficult to stand out in the talent segment for Paul because many of the other contestants didn't have a talent or anything watchable. Paul on the other hand is a professional latin dance tutor so he was bound to do well here. But taking things into perspective I found the routine chaotic and actually not very well executed however I gave him huge brownie points for actually having a talent he can perform.
TALENT RANKING - 35.89 (2ND)
AUDIENCE VOTES - 254 (7TH)
No.5 Kelvin Kong
Like many other candidates Kelvin tried to find a niche for himself and he decided that his would be his creative flair thus he spent two opportunities to sell himself by drawing. Now it's not a bad idea to present your skills but when most of that time you have your back towards the audience it's not going to gain you any votes.
Kelvin is generally good on all fronts. He doesn't really have an ailing weak point, if he does it would probably be his charisma as he was slightly emotionless throughout the contest. His body is ok but on the skinny side, however his height helps him. I did "enjoy" his swimsuit performance because he performed solidly.
SWIMSUIT RANKING - 35.86 (5TH)
AUDIENCE VOTES - 243 (4TH)
What was Kelvin thinking! Firstly a poem, then most of your time spent with your back towards the audience whilst painting with glue and finally a poem to an ex you can't forget - all a bit creepy. Kelvin tried to impress with his creativity but in the end it was all a bit of a snoozefest. The unleashing of the painting was the climax but by that time you're just thinking "Why?"
TALENT RANKING - 35.43 (9TH)
AUDIENCE VOTES - 92 (10TH)
No.6 Kit Fong
Kit was always going to do well in the swimsuit segment because he has the fittest body in the group, notice I didn't say best because some of you might like Edmond's lean but mean killing machine! or Simon's boyish but toned body or Clayton's amazing proportions. But I think Kit's body was the turning point for him as most of the other 10 guys are more towards the slim side so when Kit showed the girls a different body type they swooned over him. If his talent came first I doubt Kit would have scored as highly overall.
Anyway Kit did really well in the swimsuit segment showcasing a very desirable body and a charming smile. He, along with Hugo, also showed the most strength whilst on the scaffolds.
SWIMSUIT RANKING - 36.19 (2ND)
AUDIENCE VOTES - 274 (2ND)
Kit beatboxed for his talent, I personally was not a fan but the scores of girls (and boys) liked it. He was ok but then I just found it to be the wrong type of talent for this contest.
TALENT RANKING - 35.55 (7TH)
AUDIENCE VOTES - 372 (2ND)
No.8 Simon Tang
Simon actually performed quite well throughout the night but it's possibly because he's incredibly boyish that he was slightly forgettable. He definitely gave me the best laugh of the night when he said "I still want to play, can all you big sisters let me stay." To which the largely female audience peed their knickers.
Simon's swimsuit segment was actually very strong because he was charismatic and enjoying the moment but also because he actually has a damn nice body. However the audience didn't think the same and scored him relatively lowly.
SWIMSUIT RANKING - 35.91 (3RD)
AUDIENCE VOTES - 133 (7TH)
Simon's performance actually involved some sort of talent with a performance so it was instantly watchable. I'm not an expert on breaking but Simon produced enough moves to sustain interest. But it did not benefit from coming after Kit's beatbox performance.
TALENT RANKING - 35.71 (4TH)
AUDIENCE VOTES - 335 (3RD)
No.9 Aleyson Shu
I never favoured Aleyson because of many things but one thing which annoyed me mostly was his sexface which made him look like a pug. But on the night he did give me a dilemma.
On the swimsuit segment Aleyson just didn't stand out, from his random movements on the scaffold to his rather puny looking physique compared to the rest.
SWIMSUIT RANKING - 35.29 (11TH)
AUDIENCE VOTES - 82 (9TH)
The dilemma came from his talent because I found it the most exciting to watch. The voters didn't wholly agree but his dance routine was the best of the night because it showcased his talent and kept the audience entertained, he reminds me a lot of Wu Zhiwei from 2007 who showcased his talent but was quite poor in every other area.
TALENT RANKING - 36.05 (1ST)
AUDIENCE VOTES - 255 (6TH)
No.10 Clayton Li
Oh Clayton, his adorable slitty eyes and bright smile managed to win everybody over. By the end of the night it didn't matter what Clayton did because all his flaws amusingly became his strengths. His poor command of Cantonese added to his cute and slightly shy image whilst his stuttering made everyone just want to go up and hug him and say it's all right. That's the harsh reality about Mr Hong Kong, you don't need to be talented or a good communicator you just need to be hot! I've heard some people call him ugly, I admit Clayton isn't conventionally good looking but he is undeniably hot and actually in my opinion still one of the best looking guys in the bunch.
He was simply the best in the swimsuit segment and that instantly solidified him as the favourite as close competitor Edmond Siu looked under the radar. All future contestants learn from Clayton, he was hot, sexy, masculine and most importantly he had this swagger which made him all the more desirable.
SWIMSUIT RANKING - 36.31 (1ST)
AUDIENCE VOTES - 318 (1ST)
By the talent stage it almost didn't matter what he did because he was bound to make the Top 4, however he did cut it close. Clayton performed a very questionable magic act. Whilst he looked hot in his suit parading around with a floating table it was all too gimmicky and showcased no talent at all. If it wasn't for his adorable smile Clayton might not have been safe as he scored poorly with the audience.
TALENT RANKING - 35.49 (8TH)
AUDIENCE VOTES - 173 (9TH)
No.11 Douglas Au
I felt sorry for Douglas, his final score was so low that I cringed and I would have thought it was a technical error if I didn't add up the votes prior to the announcement. But his low score wasn't without reason. He simply didn't stand out in anything and became a slight laughing stock. When he was pleading to be saved I cringed even more as he told a really unfunny joke, he dug himself into a hole he couldn't climb out of. This was what the final votes looked like on the night.
HIGHEST 646-510-491-479-468-392-374-337-335-325-91 LOWEST and obviously Douglas'
He wasn't strong in the swimsuit segment, he walked without any conviction, his body wasn't very appealing and he looked like he had a buttplug stuck in his ass throughout the whole time.
SWIMSUIT RANKING - 35.38 (9TH)
AUDIENCE VOTES - 36 (10TH)
Then Douglas performed a dance routine for his talent. Now it's excusable if you do it well like Edmond but I would nearly say he floundered around the stage. It was poorly executed and there were no climax points. A dark horse quickly became a huge outside bet.
TALENT RANKING - 35.37 (10TH)
AUDIENCE VOTES - 55 (11TH)
No.12 Hugo Lam
Hugo was the clown of the contest but his overconfidence actually became rather sexy and refreshing in the end. As I said he was a dark horse in this competition and his performance on the night allowed him to ascend into a Top 4 position.
His swimsuit segment was ok, in general he was in the middle of the pack throughout the night. However his one handed lifts did impress me.
SWIMSUIT RANKING - 35.77 (6TH)
AUDIENCE VOTES - 254 (3RD)
Hanjin questioned whether a fitness routine was actually a talent, he obviously doesn't appreciate it. I personally don't mind as long as it's watchable because most of the contestants don't have a performable talent anyway. Yet again Hugo stayed in the middle of the pack for me with this but because of wildly fluctuating scores he managed to rank just outside of the Top 4 at 5th.
TALENT RANKING - 35.6 (6TH)
AUDIENCE VOTES - 256 (5TH)
So by the end of the Talent segment this was my scoring for the night.
Firstly I'll tell you how I scored them. Besides Swimsuit and Talent segments I gave them other scores for things like their intro speech. Each segment was weighted differently with the Swimsuit and Talent segment weighted highest and then within those two segments I scored the contestants in four different categories each with different weightings. The scores you saw above were my final scores for those segments. As I said I like scoring in relative terms so as to not make all the figures look too close together and irrelevant I used an equation to rectify the final scores with the highest scoring 100 and the lowest scoring 50. This was the final outcome.
1st - Clayton Li (10) 100.00
2nd - Kit Fong (6) 97.79
3rd - Edmond Siu (1) 95.96
4th - Simon Tang (8) 94.85
5th - Hugo Lam (12) 84.93
6th - Kelvin Kong (5) 81.99
7th - Derek Wong (3) 80.15
8th - Paul Yiu (4) 79.04
9th - Aleyson Shu (9) 77.94
10th - Douglas Au (11) 60.66
11th - Honda Hui (2) 50.00
I hope it all makes sense
This was the voting standings
1st - Kit Fong (6) - 646
2nd - Hugo Lam (12) - 510
3rd - Clayton Li (10) - 491
4th - Derek Wong (3) - 479
5th - Simon Tang (8) - 468
6th - Paul Yiu (4) - 392
7th - Edmond Siu (1) - 374
8th - Aleyson Shu (9) - 337
9th - Kelvin Kong (5) - 335
10th - Honda Hui (2) - 325
11th - Douglas Au (11) - 91
Thus Kit Fong, Clayton Li and Hugo Lam made the final 4 with the other being decided by viewer votes which was ultimately won by Edmond Siu which solidifies the fact that it doesn't matter how well you do in the competition as long as you are good looking you'll be safe.
If there was a Top 6 then No.3 Derek Wong and No.8 Simon Tang would probably fill the spot. And what's with the awful suits.
Here are two shots so you can compare the guys physiques.
Edmond has a decent body but he looks short here (but he's 6"0). Honda still needs to lose some flab, Derek has wide hips, Paul looks puny, Kelvin is skinny but tall and lean whilst Kit is obviously the most built amongst the six.
Simon has a good physique for his age, in comparison Aleyson looks average. Clayton is well toned and I love his shoulders. Douglas has an OK physique whilst Hugo has a decent physique.
Oh they also had a short video segment which I thought was quite nice.
So Edmond, Kit, Clayton and Hugo went into the debate round with the debate being on "Should MrHK have male audiences" the debate was a shambles and most of the points put forward were random. Hugo definitely stood out for his confidence and his ability to actually string a sentence together! Edmond spoke well but he let Kit (who was the weaker speaker) take over way too often. Whilst Clayton didn't need to do anything at this stage but smile to win the title.
Special Awards
IMister - No.1 Edmond Siu
based on pre-final online voting
Best Stage Presence - No.10 Clayton Li
based on swimsuit segment
Mr Talent - No.3 Derek Wong
based on talent obviously!
Finally the Top 4
Clayton won by 34 votes against Edmond with Kit and Hugo lagging behind, the voters had reverted back to "who's the best looking" obviously. However badly Edmond performed he was the best looking guy in the bunch, he wasn't as eloquent as I thought or hoped he was so he didn't stand out as much as I predicted in the debate section thus it was Clayton who had to win. Kit was decent throughout but he has a rather weird look at times whilst Hugo was just there to fill out the Top 4.
It was an up and down year for MrHK but I'm glad Clayton won because he is definitely amongst my Top 10 favourite MrHK contestants of all time.
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