And with height median of 5 foot 8 and an average age of 17—with the youngest being only 13, these are very young girls who know what they want and are ready to work very hard in order to achieve it. Errol says it helps that the finalists are "all fresh faces with little or no prior modeling experience, and that makes them ideal for competitions."

Dusky Marchel Lunette Vilches, a 22-year-old marketing graduate and former call center trainer from Jaro, Iloilo, who looks up to Angel Aquino as her role model, sees the Elite Model search as "all about having fun and discovering your potential."

Doe-eyed Cherry Rose Adame, the 18-year-old finalist from Pamplona, Las Piñas, has always wanted to be a model. Recalling her childhood, Cherry says, "I used to wear my mom’s high heel shoes and ramp around the house. I guess modeling is something that I wanted to do even back then."

Jemariz Austria, another 18-year-old who hails from Malate, Manila, and who, like just about everyone else, loves Paris Hilton, sees the competition as something that would open doors and lead to better things—not just for the actual winner but to most, if not all, the other finalists as well. The MassComm freshman with distinctive Eurasian features says she wants to be a model so she can help her family. Watching the sun set in the perfect beach that she’s seeking would be a nice icing to the cake if she wins it all.

It comes as little surprise that Terri Lynn Bivins, 15, and the only finalist with exotic African-American features regards Naomi Campbell and Tyra Banks as her modeling idols. Terri herself loves to travel to exotic locales like Bali during her downtime.

Among those we interviewed for this feature, only Bianca Camille Intal of San Simon, Pampanga, is the finalist with the most modeling experience. The lovely debutante and Management major has previously won the regional title of the Body Shots tilt in Pampanga and is already looking forward to a long and fruitful modeling career.

Nineteener Christine Leah Legarda of Bulacan, on the other hand, is foregoing her Nursing studies in favor of fulfilling her dream to become a model. Persuaded by friends to join the Elite Model Look competition, this is actually Christine’s very first modeling stint and if luck smiles on her, it certainly won’t be the last.

Still yet another 18-year-old finalist, Stephanie San Luis of Bacoor, Cavite, is, like Lunette, a former call center personnel and says that the Elite Model Look search gave all the finalists a chance to bond and be close to each other. "Of course all of us want to win this, too," she quips.

These girls, along with Khristine Lim, Patricia Anne Dungca, Nicolette Henson, Jenny Yu, Felice Paula Rosales, Sara Kae Custodio, Erika Friginal, Charmagne De Guzman, Leslie Anne Tagonan, Kim Ross De Los Santos, Wevina Montoya, Jasmine Maierhofer, Jann Mae Madrid, Gwyneth Albarracin, April Mangente, Czarina Rosales and Leona Mae De Leon will compete in the finals of the Elite Model Look Philippines 2005 finals October 27 at the Le Pavilion. The winner will represent the Philippines in the Elite Model Look international competition, to be held November in Shanghai, China.

To prepare the finalists further for the tough competition that awaits them, they are undergoing training in modeling conducted by Elite Model Look Philippines 1999 winner Kuku Trinidad. The girls who all admitted that they love parties also participated in a series of bar and mall tours 15 and appeared in a fashion show to celebrate the third anniversary of Gold’s Gym at the PGA Cars showroom on Edsa.

The finalists also will grace the Elite Ball, a formal pre-finals Grand Elite Party at the Coconut Palace on October 25, for the benefit of the Children’s Hour program of the Ayala Foundation which will be attended by prominent members of society, fashion and business.

"Judging is a continuous process," says Lunette. "We are judged by everything we do, how we perform at rehearsals, our attendance to meetings, there are a lot of factors that will come into play in this search."

Aside from representing the country in the Elite Model Look International competition in Beijing, the winner will also be awarded an exclusive contract with Elite Model Management, the world’s largest and most prestigious modeling agency (35 agencies worldwide and two regional coordination offices), cash prizes, a trophy and an all-expense paid trip to China for the international finals. She will also get an all-expense paid trip to Singapore, courtesy of Elite Asia-Pacific.

Apart from selecting the Philippine representative to Beijing, Elite Model Look Philippines 2005 will award winners in the categories of Ramp, Print and Commercials. Unless only one finalist will excel in all of these categories then there will be other winners as well.