The Manhunt International contest started in 1987. The Manhunt International history dates back from the idea of making a male model pageant belonging to Alex Liu, the Metromedia Singapore pageant director. There were a lot of female pageants but no male pageants. So, it was Alex Liu who thoroughly planned and staged the contest. The success was incredible. The Manhunt International pageant was the first male pageant. The Manhunt International gives a lot of opportunities to those companies which produce and want to promote and advertise products for men. The manner of doing it is rather refreshing. The contest is extremely popular in Singapore nowadays. It is necessary to mention that since 1987 the contest has greatly increased in the number of sponsors and participants. The Manhunt International has a branch which is called Senior Manhunt. It is for those men who are over 30. But the contest is only for Singapore. The contest got the status of international only in 1993. The first international pageant was held in Australia's Gold Coast. In 1994 there was the second pageant which was held in the same place. 1995 was one of the most successful years of the contest. That year 35 delegates from all over the world came to Singapore to fight for the main prize. The prize was $100,000.00. The Manhunt International list of winners was enlarged by the name of Albe Geldenhuys from South Africa who won the prize that year. The runner-up was Dino Morea from India. That year the contest was broadcast in Singapore as well as in 38 other countries. About 420 million people watched the show. The Manhunt International of 1996 was planned to be a New Year's special. But it was postponed till May of the next year because of the General Elections that were held at the end of 1996. It was Singapore that welcomed the Manhunt International in 1997. That time 38 countries sent their delegates to the contest. The pageant was full of colors and drama that year. It was broadcasted in 50 countries with about 500 million auditors. In 1999 the pageant moved to Philippines. The participants represented 43 countries. In 2000 the contest was again held in Singapore. In 2001 it was China's turn to accept the pageant. In December 2002 the contest moved to Shanghai in China. In order to become the winner of the contest the French delegate Fabrice Bertrand Wattez had to compete with 46 other delegates. The world final contest was performed in Shanghai Grand Theatre that is considered to be very important site in China. The TV station of Shanghai broadcasted the event to more than 500 million auditors. According to the plan the Manhunt International in 2003 was to be performed in Shanghai. But it was the time of SARS outbreak, so the contest was cancelled. The year of 2004 was remarkable for a serious Avian Bird Flu outbreak that occurred. In order to provide the safety to the contestants, the contest was put off. In 2005 Busan in Korea accepted the pageant. Parkland Men's Stores and Mercedes Benz were the official sponsors of the pageant in 2005.