It is less than two weeks from the Grand Finals of The New Paper New Face 2012, and the battle for the crown of Miss Popularity is heating up.

Making up the Top 5 currently (in alphabetical order) are Kylie Yuen, Monique Freidanck, Nadiah Sapuan, Syirin Jamil and Wynne Peh.

If you don't see your favourite girl's name in the list, don't fret because there's still plenty of time to send in your votes.

The New Face is a modelling competition - now in its 20th year - that has been a career launch pad for many successful models and actresses.

This year, the contest is presented by Subaru MotorImage and is co-sponsored by Clinique and Levi's.

The winner of the Miss Popularity contest is determined by TNP readers who cast their votes via SMS.

TNP spoke to two of the finalists in the Top 5 for this contest, and both expressed shock at their early lead.

When we told Syirin she's one of the forerunners, her first reaction was: "Huh? Really?"

She revealed that she did not campaign and that only her closest friends knew about the voting.

Cautious

However, she is careful not to get ahead of herself, saying: "It's still too early to tell who will win because anything can happen from now until the finals."

Kylie reiterated her fellow finalist's cautious statement, saying: "I think my chances of winning are really slim!"

Talking about what being crowned Miss Popularity would mean to her, Syirin said: "I'll be really happy.

"Being able to stand out from the 20 girls and winning the award would be really great."

Kylie though, has her eyes on the crown, with the cash award going towards a holiday.

"If I win the Miss Popularity award along with the $1,000 cash prize, I'll use it to fund my graduation trip with my friends," said the banking and financial services student.

To get updates on the Miss Popularity contest, "like" our New Face Facebook page, TheNewPaperNewFace2012.

Other awards

Do note that the Miss Popularity Award given out by The New Paper isn't the only one our New Face finalists are competing for.

There are four other subsidiary awards, namely the Miss Vivacious Award by Subaru, the Miss Levi's Award by Levi's, the Miss Beautiful Skin Award by Clinique, as well as the Best Catwalk Award by TNP.

The winner of the Miss Beautiful Skin Award will walk away with $1,000 worth of Clinique products, while the rest of the awards feature a cool $1,000 cash prize.

All award winners will be announced on Oct 4 during the Grand Finals.

Get The New Paper for more stories.