By Khahliso Khama
MASERU — Next Saturday will see the first Miss EV crowned from a bevy of 20 local beauties.
The pageant, organised by EV Hair & Beauty Salon, will run concurrently with Ultimate Designer contest.
The latter, looking for the best clothing designer, is being bankrolled by the radio station Ultimate FM.
The event is set for Pioneer Shopping Centre.
Miss EV co-ordinator ‘Mathato Ramone told the Weekender they had received an overwhelming 40 entries for the pageant.
Initially they wanted only 10 contestants for the pageant but they had to double the figure, she said.
The auditions took place at Pioneer Shopping Centre on November 6.
“It was difficult to select only 10 out of the many hopefuls who returned their forms,” Ramone said.
“So we decided to increase the number from 10 to 20 contestants.”
“We also realised that having 20 contestants will give us a broad selection from the girls and we can come up with the right person,” she added.
Ramone said they had decided to make a design contest part of the pageant.
“The role of the designers will be to dress the contestants and in that way they are already marketing their clothing and business,” she said.
But only three designers had by last week turned up for auditions.
Ramone said they were hoping to have more designers joining the contest before next Saturday.
“We hope people and huge companies in Lesotho will spot the talent of our young people who will participate at the event,” she said.
“We want to expose our designers and models.”
The contestants will compete in a range of attires ranging from evening wear to swimwear and other fashion designs.
Local hip-hop star Papa Zee is billed to headline the entertainment for the event.
Other artists like Juvenile and Kingdom Classics as well as Ultimate FM DJs are also set to perform.
“We invited the most loved local artists. We wanted people who can pull a great crowd,” Ramone said.
Meanwhile Ramone said they were planning to make the pageant an annual event.
“We don’t want to see the talent die off,” she said.
“We hope to bring the pageant every year so that the culture of fashion design and modelling grows in our country.”
