Miss TZ is here but where’s the lustre?

The curtains will roll down on the Redds Miss Tanzania beauty contest finals at the Mlimani City Hall, Dar es Salaam tomorrow.

Of the hundreds of  girls who started the hunt in the preliminaries several months ago, only 30 will parade in front of the bench of judges as they battle for the crown of ‘the fairest of them all’.

It remains an interesting prospect whether one of the regions can break Dar’s dominance which has lasted for three successive years.

 The epic show comes after four weeks of gruelling training and rehearsal exercises which were conducted by several professionals.

The one month saw the girls undergo an overhauled training system that saw them learn etiquette, catwalk, banking and finance, plus a visit to Ngorongoro.

Speaking to journalists earlier this week, Hashim Lundenga  aka ‘Uncle Hashim’ promised that the contest was going to be a tight one given the type of the contestants.

 And as a matter of fact they are spoilt for choices as all deserve that top spot given the qualities they have exhibited so far.

However, as the belles parade tomorrow evening for a chance of a lifetime, five have already qualified for the top 15 after they won in various fast track events.

This makes it even tighter for the remaining 25 who will have to contest for the remaining 10 slots.

The events included Top model, Miss Talent, Miss Photogenic, Miss Personality and Top sports woman.

The lucky ones so far are Norieta Boniface who won the Top Model, Severina Ringa, the Miss Personality, Clara Bayo the Sports Woman, Happiness Watimanya who won the Miss Photogenic and Prisca Clement who  completed the list by winning  the Miss Talent.

However, unlike in the past where the reigning beauty queen handed over the crown to an incoming queen, this time the procedure is slightly different as the first runner-up will do it on her behalf.

Speaking to The Beat, Redds brand manager Victoria Kimaro, said there was no way Bridgette Alfred could have presided of the event since she is in Indonesia at the Miss World contest.

“We would have loved to have her here with us, but her event is on September 28, so there is just no way she can be in two places at the same time,” said Victoria Kimaro.

She added that everything as far as the sponsors are concerned had been done to the last detail and now they were looking forward to having a great show, come Saturday evening.

To put some sheen to the contest, song bird Lady Jaydee and Uganda’s Mike Ross are on the cards to entertain what many have described as a largely corporate show with tickets going for Sh100, 000 and Sh50, 000.

Waning appeal

But as the Miss Tanzania organising committee and the Redds sponsors promise a great show, there are some undertones that suggest that the once popular event has lost its gloss.

Over the years more money has been pumped into the contest from the grassroots upwards with Redds being the latest sponsor to enter a multi-million sponsorship contract.

According to pundits, the event which has brought several women to prominence was at one point the most sought after event on the calendar after Simba and Yanga duels.

“These days we hardly know about it; even when it is reported in the media it looks like just another ordinary event that isn’t worth the bother,” said a source.

He adds: Our contestant at the Miss World left a couple of days ago; but there hasn’t been much update on what she is doing there or how she has fared so far.

He blamed the lack of appeal on the fact that the show has concentrated its efforts in attracting more of the corporate clientele, yet in reality it is supposed to be Tanzanians’ show.

“It is okay to chase the corporate because that is where the money is, but in the process we alienate the same people who are supposed to own this show,” he said. However, even with such criticism there are others who have given credit to the committee for ridding the contest of scandals that were once common with beauty queens.

“This community thrives on scandals, without which you receive very limited publicity. That is why the last four years have been of a low profile because winners have tried their level best to stay away from scandals,” said another source.

Miss Tanzania as an institution went to a record low in 2009 when the reigning beauty queen Miriam Gerald spent some time behind bars.

History

Tanzania’s first beauty queen in the modern era was Anna Maeda who won the crown in 1994. She was then followed by Emily Adolph in 1995 before Soshe Sinare did it in 1996.

Then Saida Kessy from Arusha broke the Dar dominance in 1997 when she swept the crown which was then known as Aspen Miss Tanzania at an emotional event held at Diamond Jubilee Hall.

Basila Mwanukuzi from Kinondoni won the pageant in 1998, followed by Ilala’s Hoyce Temu and Jacqueline Ntuyabaliwe in 1999 and 2000, respectively.

Dar es Salaam continued to dominate the pageant in 2001 through Temeke’s Happiness Millen Magese who won the pageant and was followed by Angela Damas in 2002.

Temeke was in the thick of things again in 2003 through Sylvia Bahame and later Kinondoni dominated the pageant through Faraja Kotta, Nancy Sumari, Wema Sepetu and Richa Adhia in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 respectively.

Before the reigning queen Genevieve Mpangala whose term comes to an end tomorrow, Mwanza had taken a two-year winning streak with Nasrin Karim and Miriam Gerald who won in 2008 and 2009 respectively.