by Kelvin Chan, newsroom intern

THEY were making their first appearance in public as they took to the stage at the RedNano.sg road show at VivoCity last Saturday,

The fans caused some nerves among the 20 finalists of The New Paper New Face 2008, who were not used to the attention. An entire row of cameras were lined up in front of the stage.

Finalist M Revathhi, 19, said: 'I was not nervous at first, but once I stepped on to the stage, it was an entirely different experience. I had never seen so many cameras in a row - right in front of us.'

Once they had been introduced, it was time for an impromptu chat with a few of them.

Lydia Yacob, 21, was caught off guard.

She said: 'It was nerve-wracking, because there were a lot of people in the audience, and just at the moment I wasn't fully prepared for the questions they asked me.'

The event gave members of the public a chance to meet the contestants as the girls were on hand to guide them on the use of the RedNano.sg search system.

The beauties had a lot of fun searching for themselves on the web, laughing and smiling as they saw their own photographs appearing on the screens.

Opportunities

Sara Chan, 17, said: 'It opens up a world of opportunities for people to see me and I feel very excited about that.'

People also had the opportunity to take photographs with some of the girls.

Family and friends of the finalists were also there to provide support.

Cyntherea Tan, 15, had her mother and sister, while Taryn had her children Keanu Skye, 2, and daughter, 6-month-old Mikaela Breeze.

The New Face 2008 finalists seemed to have enjoyed themselves immensely.

Lydia added that it also proved to be a learning experience.

She said: 'I think it's a good experience, because as New Face finalists, we'll have to go through more of this type of exposure in the public eye later on.'