The 61st Narcissus Festival Queen Pageant will be held this evening at the Hawai'i Theatre Center.

The pageant, which gets under way at 6:30 p.m., will establish the new queen and court for 2010. Contestants are evaluated on speech, talent, beauty and a presentation of their personalized cheongsam. Immediately before the pageant, judges will interview contestants about topics ranging from personal interests to political issues affecting Hawaiçi.
The 2009 queen, Lisa Wai Hah Wong, last year wowed the crowd with a combination of gung fu, dance and painting that produced a large portrait of Chinese-American icon Bruce Lee. A video of her performance went viral on YouTube.
Along with the title of queen, winners will also be named for Miss Talent, Miss Popularity (contestant who sold the most pageant tickets and souvenir annuals) and Miss Congeniality (voted by contestants as most friendly).
Contestants must be at least half Chinese, a resident of Hawaiçi and between the ages of 19 and 26.
Tickets are available at the theater’s box office, $29 or $34. For more information about the event, organized by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Hawaiçi, visit www.chinesechamber.com.