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Showbiz Reporter
The Miss World Zimbabwe finale date has been moved from April 25 to May 2 to avoid a clash with the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) running from April 21 to 25 in Bulawayo.

The black-tie beauty contest will be held at Mermaid Pool Resort in Shamva — a few kilometres from Harare.

Miss Zimbabwe Trust spokesperson Tendai Chirau said they had postponed the event to allow corporates to fully support both Miss World Zimbabwe and the ZITF.

“Most of those who attend Miss Zimbabwe will be participating at the ZITF so we decided to postpone our event so that the two don’t clash,” Chirau said.

He said Miss World Zimbabwe auditions were going on well with the scouting team looking for beauties in Chitungwiza today. So far 69 models have been selected to represent their respective provinces at the Miss World Zimbabwe boot camp in preparation for the national finals.

So far, Bulawayo has the highest number of representatives as it will be sending in 32 to Harare for boot camp on April 1. Seven were selected in Midlands, six in Masvingo with five being chosen in Mashonaland East, Matabeleland South and Matabeleland North. Four models will represent Manicaland.

The last leg of auditions will be in Harare from tomorrow to Sunday.

Chirau said they were impressed with the quality of models they had scouted for so far and highlighted that areas without modelling agencies had seen few turning up for auditions.

“We noticed that regions with no modelling agencies such as Lupane had recorded low turn outs for auditions. But we’re happy with the quality as the ones we selected met our criteria.”

Those who were selected are now preparing for the month-long boot camp.

“From here, the Miss Zimbabwe delegates will travel to Harare for boot camp. They’ll be taught how to walk, carry themselves and be equipped with life skills among other things. Those who’ll fail to grasp the concepts will be sent packing periodically.

“Those who’ll misbehave will be sent packing instantly as we want to crown a probity queen and will not tolerate such characters. By the time we get to the last week, only the crème will be left and they’re the ones who’ll contest for the Miss World Zimbabwe crown,” Chirau said.

He added that models in the diaspora had shown a lot of interest in the pageant and were submitting their entries online.

“We’re also going through diasporans entries online and will reveal the shortlisted entries next week,” Chirau said.

A Road to Miss World Zimbabwe reality show is expected to air on ZBCtv in April to build up to the finale. “The Miss World Zimbabwe auditions and everything that we’ve been doing is being filmed by ZBC who will then package the material for the Road to Miss World Zimbabwe programme. We expect it to air a few weeks before the pageant,” he said.

Chirau said preparations for the finale were on course and urged corporates to support the national event. “Corporates who can assist in any way are free to come through as we want to ensure that the national event is a success,” he said.

Asked why the pageant had been taken to Shamva, Chirau said they wanted to do away with holding all events in Harare all the time.

“Zimbabwe is a big country and it’s not only about Harare. We want to expose Shamva to the world so that people can appreciate it,” Chirau said.

He said ticket prices for the finale would be announced later as they were still deliberating. Last year’s tickets could not be afforded by many as they went for $300.