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Outgoing Queen, Anne Grace Mutambu

Showbiz Reporter
THE stringent rules for models and continuous dethronement of those crowned seems to be haunting the Miss Zimbabwe Trust as the hosting of this year’s Miss World Zimbabwe pageant hangs in the balance.

To date, the Trust is not certain when the outgoing Queen, Anne Grace Mutambu, will be relieved of her duties and hand over her crown, simply because they have not found models fit to take to the national ramp.

This year’s pageant was initially meant to be held on April 16 in Harare, a few weeks after the crowning of Miss South Africa, but local organisers claimed aspiring school going models had pleaded with them to extend audition dates, forcing them to postpone the event.

As a result, auditions which were meant to have been concluded at the end of February are still ongoing and are likely to go on until June.

“We (Miss Zim Trust) were supposed to sit down and iron out the dates for the pageant last week. However, we didn’t get round to that.

“The Queen will highly likely be chosen in June on a date we’ll soon reveal,” said Tendai Chirau.

He said they would continue auditioning those interested in participating in the pageant till they set a date for the finals.

But the postponement could have been because of the lack of quality models, especially considering the low turnout at this year’s auditions. While auditions over the years have seen bumper crowds throng audition venues, this year’s were lukewarm.

Though the low turnout did not bother pageant organisers at the time, it seems to be affecting them now as they keep scouting for contestants.

Most seasoned models who had been trying their luck at the pageant over the years did not pitch up for auditions and when asked why, their responses were universal.

“The contest is now very intimidating. It’s like a death sentence because it’s less fun now. All your moves are monitored as if you’re in prison, and why be crowned to be ousted,” said a top model from Bulawayo who preferred anonymity.

“I’d rather participate in smaller pageants than this one as they’re more rewarding.”

However, some models could have evaded auditions because of the new rules where models will be expected to swear on the Bible that they have never posed for nude pictures.

Critics, however, claim that the Trust may be failing to secure sponsors for the country’s flagship pageant which set very high standards while others feel they may be chickening out after dethroning three Queens over petty issues.

The delay in the hosting of the event is a serious cause for concern as it will result in the Queen having little time to prepare for the Miss World pageant where she will be expected to present a documented Beauty with a purpose charity project among other requirements.

History has shown that, with adequate time and resources dedicated to Miss World preparations, the Queen will do the country proud as was the case with Malaika Mushandu (Miss Zimbabwe 2011) who made it into the top 10 after months of preparation.