The final casting call for Miss Universe Malaysia 2010 went off with a bang at the Royale Chulan Hotel in Kuala Lumpur recently.

Over 45 girls swarmed the waiting room from as early as 9.30am - which was in stark contrast to the lukewarm response the organising committee received when they held a casting call in Penang previously.

One hopeful contestant even braved jetlag and flew in from Australia at six in the morning especially for the audition.

The amount of talent and beauty that turned up was incredible, with a jovial atmosphere amongst the hopeful contestants and the crew.

TV host Ben Ibrahim commented, “The quality of the girls today is hot! I can certainly see that some of them have the potential to go through to the top five at Miss Universe itself and make a career in the industry.

"The combination of the three weeks of casting calls has given us a great top 40, and the competition is sure to be close”.

Seriously, the Miss Universe Malaysia 2010 resident judges, comprising former beauty queens Andrea Fonseka and Julia Dolmatova, Fly FM DJ Fabian James, as well as actor/direcotr/producer Hans Isaac were spoilt for choice!

They had to spend 16 hours selecting the fairest among them all.

“I am blown away, and I think Malaysia will be too,"said Andrea Fonseka, the national director of the Miss Universe Malaysia pageant.

"There are many reasons that these girls were chosen and thankfully the public will be able to see them – via the webisodes”

Among the hopefuls who made it through were two friends of Sam Chee, a Ford Supermodel of the World Malaysia 2009 finalist.

“My friends are so beautiful, and I wanted to get them to try out," enthused Sam. "After weeks of persuasion, plus last minute coaxing, they both agreed”.

The 18 finalists of the Miss Universe Malaysia 2010 will be officially announced on April 14 2010.