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The Harare International Conference Centre burst at the seams with fashionistas, models and music lovers who thronged the venue to watch the best Zimbabwe has to offer.
Frankly speaking, nobody rocks like Winky D.
There was a bit of commotion at the pageant and the reggae/dancehall emcee was to blame for the chaos as the crowd screamed his name.
Minutes after the crowning ceremony, Winky D alias “Bigiman” hit the stage in grand style wearing his trademark woolen hat, a pair of denim jeans and sneakers.
“Now hear dat” he said as he emerged from backstage amid a flurry of heavy lighting and loud cheers.
He opened his set with the track “Champion” but it was not long before he called for an encore.
Later, the momentum picked up and he ignited the packed auditorium with a beautiful display of his lyrical venom choosing some of his best hits including “Takaipa Takaipa”, “Green Like Mi Garden”, “Tavharisa 2010” and “Controversy”.
Needless to say, he let the crowd sing along to his chart toppers “Vanotura” and “Musarova Bigiman”.
The Kambuzuma-born singer came prepared for the showdown and he did not disappoint for a minute and when he finished his set some people left the venue.
His act made fans forget about Extra Large, ExQ or Stunner who had performed earlier.
However, the collaboration between ExQ and Extra Large aka Maroja got fans on their feet so did Stunner who featured the Diamond Boy, Munyaradzi Chidzonga.
Their act made up for hiccups that dogged the beginning of the pageant.
Pastor Charles Charamba, donning a white designer suit, had great moments on stage. So did Sebastian Magacha
By the way, Pastor Charamba introduced his new video of the song Zimbabwe and it was pleasing to see the good pastor being flanked by the beauties.
Despite the fireworks on stage, elsewhere off the stage, the Miss Zimbabwe pageant itself was a disappointing.
For starters, the show started three hours late although it was scheduled to start at 7pm. For some strange reasons, the contestants only got crowned way past midnight.
To make matters worse, the masters of ceremonies Tich Mataz and Bridget Gavanga did not apologise for the delay.
The least they could have done was to explain the delay and make sure that they stick to the programme if ever there was any.
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority chief executive Karikoga Kaseke had to give orders from his couch.
This did not only worsen the flow of the show, but was also embarrassing since there were other beauty queens from Botswana, Ghana and Nambia.
Of course, we appreciate the fact that Kaseke is a hands-on person, but surely at such occasions he needs to take a back seat.
Secondly, most world pageants last between 45 minutes and an hour but for our local beauty pageant they take forever.
If ZTA want to have an after party, they should do that and not to mix pageantry and music.
A beauty pageant should be short and exciting.
Yes, there can be entertainment here and there, but it should not cloud the main event.
At the Miss World prejudging is done in the run up to the main event.
This is why the actual show which is broadcast live across the world is shorter.
There was absolutely no reason for the ZTA to parade yesteryear queens and their second or first princesses on that event.
The introduction of contestants by their totems was a good idea and the inclusion of Mbira DzeNharira was also commendable but that should have been done before the show.
There is no way our contestants will win at the international catwalk if they are not confident in the swimwear category, which was missing.
I know some people would want to accuse me of mischief but that is the sad reality.
In other words, as much as we want to identify with our culture and everything, there is no substitute for quality and ZTA should go back to international standards otherwise there is no rebranding to talk about.
Online Reporter