MASERU – Third year National University of Lesotho (NUL) Bachelor of Commerce Accounting student Futhi Showe was crowned Miss NUL 2011 at a glittering ceremony at Manthabiseng Convention Centre on Saturday.
The pageant, which was organised by the National University of Lesotho, saw Kehilwe Modise being crowned first princess while Palesa Masoabi was crowned Second Princess.
Tebello Moeketsi, a third-year Urban and Regional Planning student, was crowned Mr NUL while Matjeka Pali was crowned First Prince. Retšilisitsoe Ramohanoe was crowned Second Prince.
Showe, who is from Swaziland, and Moeketsi, will on February 25 take part in the Miss Intervarsity competition to be staged in Botswana.
Showe, a first-time participant in the NUL pageant, surprised her 13 counterparts as she scooped the crown under their noses.
“The competition was very tight. I never even imagined myself in the top five, I mean all the girls are so beautiful but I am very happy,” Showe said.
Moeketsi said he came expecting to win the competition and was satisfied with the result.
“There was competition but I entered the competition with the hope of winning so I am very happy I won,” he said.
The competition began at 9pm two hours behind schedule.
Nevertheless, it kicked off on a very high note.
An African dance group, Mankabelane, blended their performance with poetry.
There were also performances by African Contemporary who displayed local choreography.
Classical music group Kingdom Classics also mesmerised the fans with their love songs.
The women in the hall went wild when male contestants made it to the stage in their swimwear.
But the night was not only for the ladies.
The men almost had their eyes popping out when 14 young and fresh contestants made it to the stage in their swim wear.
The hall simply went wild.
The judges also had a tough time in selecting the winners.
There was even a minor argument between the judges about who should be the winner.
The 10 male models were subjected to questions to test their intellect.
But there was no time to test the women’s intellect as organisers had booked the venue up to midnight.
In a bid to rush proceedings organisers cut off the question segment for contestants going straight into nominating the top three winners.
The head of judges, Mary Moshoeshoe, from the University of Free State, told the Weekender that they rushed through the process due to time constraints.
“The competition was very tricky and a bit unfair because we only selected Miss NUL out of what we saw on stage without testing brainpower,” Moshoeshoe said.
“There were too many performances in between and they consumed time so we had to judge under pressure.”
She added: “We were judging the girls on maturity, graceful walk on stage, friendliness, confidence and how they conducted themselves on stage.”
Moshoeshoe said a different selection criteria could have yielded a completely different result.
“Maybe if we had a chance to test intellect the three could not or could still have made it.”
The master of ceremony, Bokang Mohale, said they tried a different approach this year but it almost blew-up on their faces.
“Despite the non-question section, we are happy with the results and we will be preparing them for the intervarsity competition,” Mohale said.
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