Judge Paul Taylor, creative director at M&C Saatchi Melbourne, noted: "The top 10 per cent really was of a world class standard but the rest fell away pretty quickly."
He described the majority of Hong Kong entries as "flat" but added that the standard of work from neighbouring China was encouraging. Taylor praised China's art direction skills but urged Chinese creatives to take more risks and not be tied down by client restrictions.
Other judges included David Alberts, chairman and executive creative director of Grey Worldwide UK; Pinit Chantaprateep, deputy chairman and chief creative officer of J. Walter Thompson Thailand; John Merrifield, ECD, TBWA/Japan; and Michael Prieve, ECD at FCB San Francisco.
Participating judges from Hong Kong included Tan Khiang, film director at WOWWOW tank and Andy Wong, ex-creative director at FCB.
Judges also said the work lacked ingenuity and attention to detail.
"Some of the ideas were good but it just seems like people have stopped believing in those ideas," said Grey London's Alberts.
The award winners will be announced at tonight's ceremony.