MASERU – The Miss Vodacom PC FM beauty pageant which was scheduled for this month has been postponed to September, the organisers said on Friday.
PC FM station manager, Kholu Qhobela, told Lesotho Timesthat the competition will now be staged at the Manthabiseng National Convention Centre on September 10.
Qhobela said they were compelled to postpone the date to September because of the cold weather in July.
“We almost froze to death last year because of the cold in the Convention Centre,” Qhobela said.
“The centre does not have enough warmth and this has pushed us to postpone the event to September.”
She added: “The weather will be permitting (in September) so people will not have an excuse of not dressing up in their best attires.”
Qhobela said the grand prize for the glamorous gala would be a car.
“We are still giving away a car as the grand prize for the pageant but we are still discussing the model of the car to buy.”
She said they only started issuing out forms to interested participants on Thursday and 40 were dished out within 24 hours.
“This proves the momentum is very high.”
Qhobela said the deadline to submit the forms is July 22.
“We have training of the girls after their auditions on July 23 for a month.
“We are looking for girls with high intelligence quotient (IQ) along with beauty. Beauty pageants should be about beauties with brains so the pageant is very strict this year,” she said.
Organisers will provide a platform for locals with skills in the modelling industry to bid for a chance to train the girls.
“I don’t know what the girls will be trained on because that is the department of the winning trainer but all I know is there will be a month-long training programme to ensure the girls are super ready for the competition,” Qhobela said.
She said the crowning ceremony will be held early this year.
“We are hoping this year the crowning will be done as early as 11pm to allow the fun to carry on until the morning, after all we are all about fun.”
Invitations have been extended to girls throughout the country.
Qhobela added: “We want all talented Basotho girls throughout the country to take part in the pageant. We are planning on reaching out to the districts next year to meet those who cannot come to Maseru half way.”
She said the event will have entertainment from both South Africa and Lesotho but details about the line-up were still to be finalised.
There will be awards for the three best-dressed girls, up from one in previous years.
Qhobela said in the 12 years they have been running the competition it has instilled self-confidence and self-belief among Basotho girls.
“We are seeing more girls participating in pageants. Some are going further to registering agencies in taking the initiative to another level.
“We are also seeing parents being supportive towards beauty pageants over the years,” she said.
