According to the Khanh Hoa People’s Court on June 27, Rong Viet Co. has recently taken legal action against the head of the Performing Arts Office under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for cancelling the Queen Vietnam Beach beauty pageant at the last minute for sloppy organization early this month.

Rong Viet Co., who organized the Queen Vietnam Beach beauty pageant but its finale, supposed to take place on June 9, was cancelled by the office at short notice, demanded that the court annul the office’s decision on withdrawing the pageant’s permit.

The company added that it’ll later seek compensation from the office’s head for the VND2 bil (US$96,154) loss which it claimed to have incurred due to the short-notice permit withdrawal.

Rong Viet also pointed out that though the company received a facsimile version of the permit withdrawal on May 31, it hasn’t received the official one by June 25.

Nguyen Dang Chuong, the office head, said on June 28 that his office hasn’t received any documents regarding the lawsuit.

“Rong Viet can feel free to go ahead with their lawsuit if they’re positive that they complied with the regulations on holding beauty contests. We’ll fully cooperate with concerned agencies,” Chuong said.

Meanwhile, judge Nguyen Van Hai from the Khanh Hoa People’s Court said that Rong Viet has yet to submit any related documents or evidence to support themselves in the lawsuit.

The 2013 Queen Vietnam Beach pageant, part of the 2013 Sea Festival, which ran from June 8 in Nha Trang city, was cancelled to its 40 contestants’ utter shock and tourists’ disappointment due to inadequate, disarrayed organization.

The abolition followed the ministry’s inspection that revealed numerous shortcomings made by the pageant organizer, Rong Viet Co., as well as their failure to comply with regulations on holding beauty contests including the contestants’ incomplete applications and the delay in setting up a jury.

Among the 114 contenders of the preliminary round, only 59 submitted their applications. Out of the 40 finalists, four didn’t hand in their applications, while nine others submitted but didn’t sign or lack necessary documents.

The organizer also failed to provide the marking sheets and the shortlisted contenders’ total scores.

Also, the jury wasn’t formed until after the preliminary round ended, and the organizer skipped the semifinal and jumped right to the final, which was supposed to take place on June 9.

The Performing Arts Office also revealed that it had received several complaints on the organizer’s result fixing.

The abolishment decision was made on June 1, but the 40 finalists weren’t informed until they arrived in Nha Trang city to get ready for the pageant’s final, only to go home empty handed and frustrated.

According to the organizer, the 2013 Queen Vietnam Beach pageant, the first of its kind if held, aims to select a beauty who can promote the allure of the Vietnamese seas to the world, take part in international beauty contests, and be a candidate for the country’s Tourism Ambassador.