Miss Taraba, Sylvia Nduka Wins MBGN 2011!

By Osagie Alonge and Kelechi Silas

The Expo Hall of the Eko Hotel & Suites in Victoria Island was full to its capacity last night Saturday, June 25, 2011 as Silverbird Group hosted guests who came from far and near to see the 24th edition of the Most Beautiful Girl In Nigeria (MBGN) beauty pageant. Featuring contestants from 34 states with an exclusion of 3 northern states; Zamfara, Kebbi and Sokoto, the night was as memorable as any other beauty hunt finale.

The very colourful event was to see a winner emerge from the 34 gorgeous contestants with a grand prize of a Hyundai Accent 2011 sedan, a sum of N3M plus, the winner will be representing Nigeria in this year’s Miss World contest scheduled to hold in England.

Guests began pouring into the hall at 6.35PM. The first-ever live transmission of the MBGN kept those not at the venue busy even though many complained of the quality of the broadcast.

The contestants all dressed in their native apparels marched out at 8.15PM to introduce themselves and the states they represent over softly played traditional drums. Hosts for the night Chris Okenwa and Michelle Dede welcomed everyone and went straight to the proceedings of the night.

Mo’Hits star, Wande Coal opened the night’s set of performances while the contestants choreographed on the stage with him. The contestants came on with swim suits at 8.42PM and boy did they look appealing! The only problem was they couldn’t catwalk. All through the competition, it should be noted that they looked like amateurs who had only been trained a few days to the event. But the well managed stage covered up for the contestants’ poor stances, composures and other inconsistencies.
Lynxxx and his producer Ikon took the stage at 9.2PM and had the crowd moving with his ‘Change ur parade’ single. The contestants then came out with their evening wears looking their best. This was by far the best presentation of the night. The crowd marvelled at the wonderful outfits the girls had on. And when Waje came on stage, all knew that they were in for a mind-blowing performance.

The Contestants were then reduced to 15, the crowd went ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ as Michelle and Chris called out names…The final 15 were selected – Miss Kano, Katsina, Lagos, Delta, Ondo, Gombe, Bayelsa, Ogun, Ebonyi, Enugu, Osun, Taraba, Kogi, Anambra and Niger. Fast rising R&B kid Praiz was then called up on stage to serenade the ladies. The lucky 15 were further cut down to 5; Misses Gombe, Enugu, Lagos, Taraba, Bayelsa were the lucky ones to make the final 5. The question and answer session came on and the finalists did their best to answer – some straight to the point, others…oops!

The outgoing MBGN Queen Miss Fiona Amuzie delivered her outgoing speech. After that, they list was further cut down to three. Dr. Sid made the last performance for the night.
It was down to the final five, Miss Taraba was crowned the MBGN 2011 and she also emerged with the ‘Best Traditional Costume’. Miss Bayelsa was the first runner-up and she will be representing Nigeria at the Miss Universe later this year in Brazil. The 2nd runner-up beauty queen, Miss Enugu will go on to represent the country at the Miss Tourism contest.

Other awards for the night were; Miss Ondo emerged as Miss Photogenic, Miss Kogi was chosen as MBGN Model, Miss Abia as Face of Select Pro, Miss Amity was Miss Ebonyi, Miss Adamawa as Miss Lacasera. Miss Lagos came in the 4th position and Miss Gombe was in the 5th.
Choreographers for the event were Juliette Hangerman and Kingsley Anthonion Odiaka.

However, the intended team of 9 judges consisted of just seven as Arik Air’s MD/Vice President, Mr. Chris Ndulue and popular Nollywood act, Genevieve Nnaji were absent. Present to judge who got what were: Nollywood actress: Susan Peters, Riverdrill Group’s Chairman/CEO: Prince Tonye T.J.T Princewill, Lufthansa West & Central Africa’s MD was represented by Ms. Nike Adegoke, MD Notore Power Limited, Mr. Femi Solebo, Director of Classic Beverages Nigeria Limited, Mr. Bankola Animashaun, Corporate Affairs boss for Eko Hotel & Suites, Ms. Caline Chagoury and Panic Alert Security Systems’ MD, Mr. George Uboh.

The pictures below tell a thousand stories…