The Telegraph


Lengshong in Kalimpong on Sunday. Picture by D.K. Waiba

Kalimpong, July 26: Lengshong Huang from Kalimpong has charmed her way into the first 15 of the nationwide Fact Universal Teen Pageant that will go on air on a private television channel from August 1.

Organised by the Mumbai-based Fact Enterprises, the auditions for the pageant were held in Mumbai, Calcutta, Delhi and Ahmedabad in May. Twenty-six of them were selected and groomed under the watchful eyes of former Miss World Diana Hayden in Mumbai, where the 15 finalist were eventually picked.

The petite Lengshong, who has just cleared her school-leaving examinations, had entered the contest in Calcutta on a lark. “I had gone to Calcutta on a holiday. When I heard about the pageant, I decided to go for the audition,” she told The Telegraph here, while sitting alongside her visibly proud mum Pintsho and a rather reticent father John at their B.L. Dixit Road home here.

Once the episodes of the pageant start going on air on 9X, viewers, Lengshong said, can vote for their favourite contestants. In all, 10 recorded episodes will be telecast. According to the official website of the event, the grand finale will be telecast live, but the date is yet to be announced. It is, however, not clear from the website how the winner will be selected.

However, the website promises that the pageant will be grand in terms of scale, reach, vision and purpose. “The event will be a launch pad for beautiful, talented and aspiring teenage girls across India,” said the organisers. The winner will take home Rs 3 lakh, sponsored gifts and a year’s modelling contract. The second runner-up will receive Rs 2 lakh, gifts and a year’s modelling assignment, while the third runner-up will get Rs 1 lakh and sponsored gifts. Lengshong said barring dancing lessons she has not been doing any extra preparation. “During the grooming lessons in Mumbai, we were taught to walk the ramp and went through dance and gym sessions,” said the 15-year-old, who idolises Sonia Gandhi, Katrina Kaif and her grandmother, but not necessarily in that order.

Only time will tell whether Lengshong will end up as a teen idol, but her mother, it appears, will be the least surprised if it happens. “She has a pleasant personality, carries herself very well and is intelligent,” said Pintsho. A good success recipe, the mother believes.