Not going to be on TV? All the better for us to join then.

That was the expressed sentiment of most of the contestants of the Miss Singapore Universe 2008.

Going by the comments that were heard from the girls backstage at the finals of the pageant, it was not the hope of becoming a celebrity, nor the generous cash prizes given to previous years' winners that attracted them to sign up in the first place.

Last year's winner Miss Jessica Tan was awarded a cash prize of $25,000 and signed a one-year contract with MediaCorp.

And the less TV exposure, the better, the contestants say.

Second runner-up, Miss Gayatri Shunmugam, 26, said: "The lack of publicity was one of the reasons why I joined the pageant."

She added: "I've always been a very shy person, and I wanted to overcome my fear of the stage. When I found out that Mediacorp was not producing the show, it encouraged me even more to apply."

Another finalist, Miss Alyssa Kokilah, 26, thought that not going on TV was good news for her since she does not "have to worry about the entire Singapore judging me."

The pageant winner, Miss Shenise Wong, 26, shared the same views. She said: "I'm not disappointed that there isn't a Mediacorp contract up for grabs because I wouldn't miss out on anything."

But despite what the girls say, the number of contest applicants dropped slightly, from over 150 last year to about 100 this year, as publicity for the event was restricted to the Internet's online forums and word-of-mouth.

Mr Daryl Pang, business and promotions director for Derrol Stepenny Promotions which organised Miss Singapore Universe 2008, does not understand why the media kicked up a fuss about the lack of TV coverage for the event this year.

He said: "It's not the end of the world when Mediacorp dropped us. Besides, there's only a limited number of local TV channels."

After all, when Mr Pang obtained the rights to run the pageant in 2000, there was no TV coverage to speak of as well. That year, the event was also held in at the Marriot Hotel ballroom without much media hype. It was only picked up by MediaCorp for broadcast on national television in 2001 and continued its run on air until last year when poor ratings and a declining interest in the grand finals caused the media station to drop the show from its line-up of programmes.

Mr Pang said: "With Mediacorp, it was just an added bonus for us because of the media exposure the pageant is getting."

Although it meant more rejections from potential sponsors since the event would not be in the public eye as much, Mr Pang does not think the loss of that partnership is crucial.

He added: "We just have to go back to our roots".

That meant organising a dinner show which also involved a charity fundraising segment for its adopted charity, the Rotary Foundation of Singapore.