Miss Supranational auditions
This July, Botswana will make her maiden appearance at the 14th edition of the Miss Supranational beauty pageant. This coming weekend, organisers of the local pageant will embark on a national tour where they will be holding auditions, looking for that unique queen who will represent the country.
The scouting team will be in Kasane on Saturday, followed by Maun on Sunday. The following weekend, January 28th, they will be in Ghanzi, and Kang on Saturday and Sunday respectively. They will also hold auditions in Francistown (February 4th), Selebe Phikwe (February 5th), Palapye February 11th), Jwaneng (February 12th) and Gaborone February 17th & 18th).
Registration is P250. Miss Supranational is currently ranked third in the world of pageantry, with the Miss World and Miss Universe holding first and second position. The reigning Miss Supranational is South Africa’s Lalela Mswane. Organisers were not just flexing their muscle when they announced at the launch of Something Big Botswana, the license holders and organisers of the pageant, that they were going all out when it comes to prices. It has been announced that the queen will walk away with a brand new Haval Jolion, and a Scholarship for a degree of their choice.
The queen will also get a house, medical aid, and welfare policies during her reign. The car ownership will be transferred to her name once she completes the end of her contract. The first and second Princess will also win a scholarship for a degree at one of the local universities.
The age limit is 30 years, unlike with Miss Botswana/ Miss World, which is 25 years. Other requirements include no visible tattoos when wearing a one piece, must be a Motswana with a valid Omang, must be aged 18-30 years, never been married, should never have given birth, should never been convicted and the height must be 1.67 m.
She must also have an existing community project, or a project proposal/plan. Kaone Moremong, the pageant Spokesperson explains that at this time they are not ready to disclose sponsors but will unveil them in two weeks. She further says that for transparency, they are producing a 13-part television production to show what will be happening in the pageant. “Viewers can see what will happen behind the scenes,” she says. Shedding light on the journey of the pageant, she notes that they will unveil the Top 30 on February 24th, which will be followed by a workshop, and elimination process.
The Top 12 will be unveiled on March 18th, where the finalists will showcase their skills at a talent show. “They will then undergo a two week's bootcamp, slated for April 1st-8th,” she explains. She also points out that Miss Supranational will take place at the end of July.
She also called on those who wish to be the next queen to register at www.misssupranational.co.bw. Miss Supranational was first held in 2009, and most of the competitions are held in Poland. The competition that also has a male version of the event, is owned by the World Beauty Association S.A and Nowa Scena.
The winner of Miss Supranational walks away with the crown, $35 000, and the gets the opportunity to do charity work, travel the world promoting tourism, and goodwill, as well as a healthy image. Since inception, the competition which is said to be big globally when it comes to production, attracts participation from 100 countries.