THE eventual winner of the beauty contest said UK's monarch Queen Elizabeth II was her ideal queen.

And while Miss Sandy Lau, 23, got to wear a crown of her own when she won the 37th Miss Hong Kong last night, what dominated the pageant were the ugly comments before and during the show.

Held at the Hong Kong Coliseum, this year's pageant saw 10 delegates competing for the title.

Miss Germaine Li, 24, was first runner-up and Miss Mizuni Hung, 25, was second runner-up.

But that didn't stop them from being lambasted by celebrity host Eric Tsang.

Sina.com reported that during the Question-and-Answer segment, Eric, known for his insensitive and often crude comments during his annual hosting duty on the pageant, made fun of the numerous mentions of 'Not Applicable' in Miss Li's curriculum vitae.

He said that she 'doesn't have anything, including boobs'.

To make things worse, celebrity guest Wayne Lai then tried to ease Miss Li's embarrassment by joking that they should perform a check to make sure.

Talk about pouring oil on a fire.

As the contestants stepped out on stage to the singing of 8-year-old UK singer Connie Talbot, whom Simon Cowell described as 'pure magic' on the reality TV show Britain's Got Talent in 2007, each revealed who the ideal 'queen' in their heart was.

According to Sina.com, Miss Lau, an analyst, said Queen Elizabeth II was an 'intelligent, industrious woman', and that she would look to her as an example for the rest of her life.

As for the subsidiary titles, Miss Carly Wong, 24, won the Miss International Goodwill award, while Miss Candy Yuen bagged the Miss Photogenic award.

Even before the contest took place last night, Hong Kong media had earlier labelled this year's finalists as 'the worst ever'.

The pageant has been lambasted in recent years for the declining quality of its contestants.

Ms Kayi Cheung, who was crowned Miss Hong Kong 2007, drew criticism from netizens who were shocked by her win.

Some branded her 'pork chop' while others called her the 'worst-ever Miss Hong Kong'. According to an online poll conducted by Netease, 89 per cent or 7,632 voters agreed that she was the worst Miss Hong Kong in 20 years.

This article was first published in The New Paper