Miss Zim finally on?

Auxilia Katongomara Saturday Leisure Reporter
PREPARATIONS for the country’s flagship pageant – Miss Zimbabwe which has been shrouded in mystery and confusion for the past year are on course.
Revelations are that in May, a total of 32 beauties drawn from the country’s 10 provinces will be battling it out for the coveted crown.Organisers have also revealed that stakes for the winners have been raised with the queen likely to get a car, and a house as part of her prizes.

According to organisers, the event was a no-show last year as there were no “right” models for the show.

The show was postponed several times as organisers claimed they were not impressed by the majority of the models presented to them by the Miss Zimbabwe regional licence holders.

The executive organising team in Harare led by former Miss Supermodel, Mary Mubaiwa-Chiwenga disqualified most of the girls citing height and weight issues as the major reason for their disqualification. One was left to wonder if the executive organising team had communicated this message to the regional organisers or “just” did not like the selected models.

A total of 11 models including reigning Miss Bulawayo, Melissa Chaka were disqualified by the executive team that took over the show from Kiki Divaris, the founder of the Miss Zimbabwe Trust last year.

However, this time, organisers are optimistic that they will get it right this time as they took time to scout for the best girls in the country who are fit to take part in the prestigious competition.

Speaking to Saturday Leisure, one of the show organisers Modester Muvhuni, sounded upbeat about the show preparations.

“Boot camp is in April, all models have been notified and we have a total of 32 beautiful girls who have made it for the competition. We are happy because all the provinces have representatives,” said Muvhuni.

Muvhuni earlier this year said her team had sent invites to all girls wishing to take part in the prestigious event with a minimum height of 1,72metres, weighing less than 60 kilogrammes in weight and never been married or pregnant.

“As Miss Zim organisers we are working with the standards of the Miss World competition where the winner will be going to represent the country.
“I am glad to say that we have girls ranging between 1,71 and 1,72 metres tall,” she said.

Muvhuni said the finale would be a black-tie event, attended strictly by invitation at a venue to be announced — a move which has greatly been criticised by show goers who feel they need to be part of the show to see the crowning of the national queen.

Back then, Miss Zimbabwe used to be a public show, priced averagely and screened live on ZBCtv for the whole country to watch their queen being crowned.

The Miss Zimbabwe pageant – the country’s flagship beauty contest has been lagging behind in terms of organisation. The lack of prizes for the winner has also demotivated some models from contesting as they feel short-changed when they compare themselves to former beauty queens like Vanessa Sibanda and Malaika Mushandu who walked away with large sums of money and vehicles as part of their prizes.

Miss Zimbabwe used to be the biggest and most attended pageant in the country but, that had since changed as pageants such as the Carnival Queen Zimbabwe, Miss Universities and Miss Curvy had taken over.

Last year, Zimbabwe missed out on the Miss World contest as there was no queen considering that Miss Bulawayo 2012, Bongani Dhlakama was still the reigning Miss Zimbabwe queen. She had contested Miss World in 2012 where she was forced to dig into her own pocket to foot bills at the competition and could not contest again in 2013.

Other countries have already started sending out their representative’s portfolios which are already online on the Miss World site while Zimbabwe is still to crown its Miss World representative.

Ever since the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority surrendered the pageant to the Miss Zimbabwe Trust in 2011, the pageant has been dogged by a number of problems among them, poor organisation of the event, models having nightmarish experiences and sometimes being forced to pay boot camp fees to cater for their welfare while in camp.
Muvhuni, however said such experiences were a thing of the past as they were receiving a positive response from the corporate sector.

She said they were now working on getting financial support for the Miss World preparations. It remains to be seen whether the Mubaiwa-Chiwenga led team will make their debut show a success.