adminMelissa Mpofu Showbiz Editor
UNIVERSITY of Zimbabwe law student and former Miss Heritage Zimbabwe, Thabiso Phiri, 22, was on Saturday evening crowned Miss Zimbabwe at a glittering ceremony held at the Mabvazuva Village in Harare. The Chitungwiza beauty managed to outshine 14 others with Tendai Bongani Hunda, 23, from Harare and Letwin Tatenda Chinomona, 19, also from Harare being crowned first and second princesses respectively.
Phiri and her princesses will receive a vehicle and cash prizes each at a prize giving ceremony set to be held on a date to be advised in Harare.
The night obviously belonged to Phiri who seemed to have worked extra hard towards clinching the Miss Zimbabwe title.
The model, who is fresh from the inaugural Carnival Queen Zimbabwe reign where she handed over her first princess crown last month, had a lot of support from models including Dananai Chipunza, Rumbidzai Mudzengerere and reigning Carnival Queen Zimbabwe.
They all stood up and screamed uncontrollably each time she took to the ramp and the crowd followed suit – something which made her outstanding, certainly putting judges under enormous pressure. It seems the support she received from the crowd assisted her as she strutted with authority, with the qualities of a queen – as if she knew she was the winner.
Speaking just after being crowned, Phiri, who once contested for Miss Zimbabwe in 2012 and failed to make it, said she was delighted to land the coveted title.
“I am very elated and don’t know how to express the joy I have. I’m so overwhelmed with the support I got from the crowd as it kept me going,” said the beauty queen.
She added that she had gained experience from contesting at various pageants, giving credit to the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority for mentoring her.
“I learnt from the mistakes I made in previous pageants and worked on them. The most important things I worked on are my step and speech as they are what the judges mainly focus on.
“Being 1st princess Carnival Queen Zimbabwe was actually a stepping stone for this title. When I was crowned 1st princess, I obviously wanted to be the queen, but I later realised that I was being prepared for something greater,” said Phiri.
She further promised to do her best at the Miss World finale taking place in London in December.
“I promise to do my best at Miss World and hope to obviously bring the title back home,” said Phiri. Chinomona on the other hand proved that whatever ZimGossip modelling agency touches turns into gold as she was groomed by the agency, which has produced a number of national queens.
This was her first time contesting and she managed to be crowned second princess beating experienced models who have been in the industry for years.
An impressed Miss Zimbabwe Trust patron, Mary Mubaiwa-Chiwenga, threw her weight behind the winners saying she was satisfied with the judges’ selection.
“The girls are quite impressive. Thabiso will go to Miss World and she is not only going to be a competitor, but I think she is going to represent Zimbabwe in a good way.
“We are going to travel to London with her and give her our full support,” said Chiwenga.
The successful re-launch of Miss Zimbabwe undeniably left a mark on former Miss Zimbabwe Trust patron, Kiki Divaris’ heart.
The ageing Divaris said she had always wanted to hand over the pageant to a person who would not organise the event for money, but for the love of it.
She could not hide her joy as she was impressed by the sterling work which had been done by Chiwenga.
“I had a vision that Zimbabwe should produce women who will be successful. I didn’t realise I had such wonderful people like Mary who would take over and run Miss Zimbabwe so well. This is really a passion of mine that has come true,” said Divaris.
Miss Bulawayo Mellissa Chaka lost out as she only made it to the bottom seven after failing to secure a spot in the top eight. Although she had a great stage presence, her height probably let her down because this year’s organisers were strict on the models’ heights as they wanted a girl who was about 1.82m tall.
It was clear Chaka, who is 1.69m tall, would not make it far as she was previously disqualified from contesting after failing to meet the Miss Zimbabwe’s Trust minimum requirements before she was called back to contest.
Meanwhile, all doubting Thomases who thought the Miss Zimbabwe pageant which failed to take place last year would not take place again this year, were left with egg on their faces as the Miss Zimbabwe Trust headed by Chiwenga staged a world class show.
The strictly by invite black tie event brought new life to local pageantry with the 450 guests well dressed for the occasion with men in black ties and women in ball gowns.
The event, which attracted the who’s who of Harare, had international standards with guests being served a five course dinner courtesy of Holiday Inn with complimentary Johnnie Walker Blue and Platinum Label whiskeys and wines placed on all tables.
There was no room for gate crashers as the security provided by both the army and ZRP was tight. Quality entertainment was provided by Jah Prayzah, Alick Macheso, Trevor Dongo, Sulumani Chimbetu and Cynthia Mare.
What made this pageant different from most, if not all local pageants, was the expertise.
Chiwenga proved she was a better organiser as artistes who performed had 10 to 15 minute slots, enough for just two to three songs.
This made the event special because the artistes did not divert people’s attention from the pageant as they did not have long winding performances which are the order of the day at most local pageants.
Online Reporter