Mellisa Chaka crowned Miss Bulawayo

BULAWAYO model, Mellisa Chaka was crowned Miss Bulawayo at a rather lukewarm ceremony held at a city hotel on Saturday night.

Chaka, who was trying her luck at the Miss Bulawayo pageant after a dismal showing at the recently held Carnival Queen in Harare, pipped 23 other girls to land the crown.

In Harare Chaka, together with her first princess, Michelle Tembo, fell on the question and answer session hurdle.

This was not the first time that Chaka took part in Miss Bulawayo as she has also did in 2011. This time lady luck smiled on her and she walked away the winner.

Bokani Nleya was crowned the second princess while Tembo was crowned the first runner up.

For her efforts Chaka walked away with a cash prize and number of consolation prizes. The model together with her first princess also won a berth to present Bulawayo at the national finals set for next month. The event will be held at a Harare Lodge. The first and second runners-up walked away with a number of prizes too.

Clementina Ali was crowned Miss Personality and local comedian Babongile Sikhonjwa, who was the MC of the night, said he hoped she would not take a leaf from the previous Miss Personality.

Controversial model, Lungile "Cyclone Ree" Mathe, who once was crowned Miss Personality at the same event, was involved in a number of shenanigans that brought the name of the pageant into disrepute.

Sikhonjwa was on top of his game on the night making jibes on tribal bigotry, the whacky answers that the models gave and the audience. This also breathed some life into the rather humdrum event.

Though the idea of promoting young and upcoming talent is noble, there is also need for the organisers of Miss Bulawayo to realise that this is supposed to be a top-notch event.

As such, the entertainment should also be first-rate, nothing more and nothing less. There is need to separate it from other commonplace and high school pageants that are held in the city. An addition of just one popular name to their line up would have gone a long way in adding glitter to the event. However, the disc jockey of the night, DJ Kananjo, saved the day, as he included popular songs on his set.

Sarah Mpofu-Sibanda, the licence holder of Miss Zimbabwe in the region, defended her move saying this was the best they could offer under the circumstances.

She said they were given little time to come up with their usual top drawer event.

"There are a number of factors at play here, among them financial constraints and short notice we got for hosting the event," Mpofu-Sibanda said.
She also said they also believe in promoting local talent, especially up and coming groups.

"We believe all entertainers are important and as such we give them equal platforms for them to showcase themselves," said the model mentor.
During the live show Mpofu-Sibanda also paid tribute to all the women that won Miss Bulawayo and went on to win Miss Zimbabwe.

Among them was Oslie Muringai-Matsikinyeri who said she really would have loved to come and celebrate her 10th anniversary after being crowned Miss Bulawayo. She subsequently won the Miss Zimbabwe title.

"I was feeling very emotional that I couldn't be there to celebrate my 10 anniversary of being crowned Miss Bulawayo," she said in an interview.
Miss Bulawayo's format for the selection of winners should also be revisited as it is time consuming and makes the audience wait unnecessary longer for results. Internationally, even at Miss Zimbabwe finals, contestants go through just one question and answer session.

Over the years Miss Bulawayo has adopted a format where the girls have to go through the question and answer session twice. Judges worth their salt can pick the best girls through a single session in which they narrow down their selection from top 10, top five and the three finalists, in one sitting.

Waiting for the Miss Bulawayo winner from 8pm in the evening to 1am is not exactly an idea for a "night on the town."