BACKSTAGE, she was nervous. There were butterflies in her stomach, she freely admitted.

Years of training as a dancer did not prepare her for the jitters of strutting in front of an 800-strong crowd in a beauty contest.

What if my high heels cause me to stumble and fall? What if I forget where to walk and how to pose?

But once onstage, her nerves did not show at all. The judges gave Miss Calista Goh, 23, full marks for a confident performance.

And by the end of the night, the excited girl was crowned the new Miss Maxim 2008, and is now nearly $7,000 richer.

She beat 12 others at the finals, held at the Arena at Clarke Quay last night.

'It was a surreal experience, because I really did not expect to win,' the paralegal told The New Paper.

'I just told myself to do my best, and that this was going to be like any of the dance performances I've been in.'

The judges were full of praise for her, not just because of her good looks, but also her gregarious and witty nature.

Maxim editor Ronald Rajan said: 'She's the life of the party. Very outspoken, very bubbly.

'And even though the whole competition was very tiring for the contestants, she took it all in her stride. She's chirpy by nature.'

Another judge, Ms Celeste Lim, who is the team head of branding for the magazine, said: 'We were looking for a persona for the magazine, and we found it in her.

Fun-loving

'On top of the fact that she is pretty, she comes across as a very fun-loving and witty person.'

The search for the next Miss Maxim started in March, when 400 people applied to get a shot at $40,000 worth of prizes.

They were eventually whittled down to the 13 finalists.

Maxim magazine said it was looking for a 'perfect mix of beauty, style and sex appeal'.

Last night, throbbing music and a free flow of drinks helped to create a party atmosphere for the readers who turned up.

The crowd seem subdued at first, needing a lot of encouragement from the emcee before they made any noise.

But temperatures went up by a notch when the finalists took turns to catwalk on stage in their tube tops (later, in bikinis).

Most had no modelling experience before joining Miss Maxim Search 2008. A few looked stiff and a little overwhelmed by the occasion.

One finalist even had an embarrassing moment. When it was her turn to answer a randomly picked question, the emcee said: 'What is your biggest vice?' She asked him (just loud enough to be heard) what 'vice' meant, prompting him to quickly ask another question.

But the crowd cheered sportingly.

The half-time entertainment livened the atmosphere further. Local band Electrico wowed the crowd.

Members of the audience went on stage to compete in drinking and dancing games. Some walked off with attractive prizes, such as watches, shades, and clothing vouchers worth hundreds of dollars.

But in the end, the biggest winner was Calista. She overcame the competition with her self-assured catwalk, sexy poses, and confident answers, winning $5,000 in cash and nearly $2,000 in other prizes.

'It was a very enjoyable experience, and I think all the contestants had a lot of fun,' she said.

This story was first published in The New Paper on Aug 30, 2008.