Before I say anything about the pageant, I'd like to give kudos to the organisers, Silverbird entertainment. The show was slated for 8 o'clock and it started promptly at 8:01 pm. It made me proud to be Nigerian. And the place was filled to capacity by 7:45pm. I guess everyone now knows that Silverbird don't wait for no one.
Anyway to the koko of the matter lol. This is exactly how it happened.
8:03pm: Musician Ara came out with her band members, performed for just a minute and all 30 girls joined her on stage with their traditional costume. They danced for about 5 minutes with Ara and her people beating on their drums. Soon after, Ara left the stage leaving only the contestants who then introduced themselves individually to the audience. I must say here that the mic was just not working right so the girls were barely audible.
After their individual introduction, the MC for the night, Wild Child of Rhythm 93.7 was introduced by the voice over MC, American-born choreographer, Juliet Haggermann.
After that, all contestants were shown on the big screen at the venue. They were basically showing us all the fun they had in camp. It was called 'Fun tape'
Then Wild Child came out again to appreciate the sponsors of the event.
Here are a list of the sponsors.
1. Eko Hotel - Free accomodation for all contestants and the use of the Expo Hall
2. Lufthanza Airline - Free flights for all the winners going to represent Nigeria in International Pageants.
3. Motorola - Phones for all the contestant
4. Lacasera - 1 million naira for Sera (You will find out about that later)
5. Skoda Fabia - A brand new Skoda Fabia car for the winner
6. Macleans
7. NB Plc
8. Zenith Bank
9. Amigos - Hair for all the contestants
10. I-Cell
After that appreciation, Wild child told us that for the very first time, we were about to see a modelling competition in the MBGN Pageant. At 8:25, all the contestants came out in similar outfits to catwalk and vie for 'Silverbird Top Model'. They came out in groups.
The first group to come out consisted of Miss Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Abuja, Anambra, Bayelsa and Adamawa. The next group were, Miss Cross River, Delta, Edo, Ebonyi, enugu and Ekiti. Followed by Miss Imo, Benue, Gombe, Lagos, Kwara, Nasarawa. The last group was Miss Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Rivers, Plateau and Miss Niger.
Afterwards at 8:35, five girls with wierd looking hairstyles and colour came on stage to dance to Omarion's 'Oh'. We later found out it was the 'Amigos hair display'. If you ask me, it was unnecessary. Didn't like that bit at all.
To the best part of the evening. Swimwear contest. This was at Exactly 8:40pm. The girls were sizzling hot in their swimwear. They got the right colour and style. really nice! The highlight of the swimwear display was when Miss Akwa-Ibom couldn't get unwrap her shawl from her waist. She just stood infront of us, working the scarf really hard. The audience had no choice but to laugh in encourage. She did manage to loosen the wrap. Then Miss Anambra gave a pose on stage that will give top models a run for their money. The 'yansh' display was so interesting to watch. Some girls tried too hard, some girls didn't try enough. And I must say at this point that I'd still not noticed 'the winner' of the pageant. She didn't stand out until later.
After the swimwear was the second performance of the night by a new female artist called Timi. Anybody know her? Never heard of her. Anyway, she came out with two dancers in hot pants and performed.
After Timi's performance, contestants came out again in lovely casual Ankara outfits to dance to Jazzman's 'Shake something'. They really shook something.
After the dance, Wild Child thanked the judges for finding time to come, and introduced them. The judges were:
1. Italian, Adriano Bareno
2. Actress, Stella Damasus Aboderin
3. Prince Segun Oniru
4. Socialite, Mina Ogunkugbe and two other white judges whose names I didn't get...sorry.
Next was the introduction of a Saxophonist who blew to Shakira's 'Hips Don't Lie' and P.Square's 'Busy Body'. He was phenomenal with the sax. The audience couldn't get enough. Someone threw his name but I didn't catch it lol.
After that, a beautiful girl...no, I'll say a pretty girl because after singing for 5 minutes and no one hearing anything she'd sang, she became a little unattractive to many of us. Maybe it wsan't her fault. The sound yesterday was just not the best I've heard. Her dress was gorgeous though. Just didn't hear what she was singing about.
Then came the girls in their evening wear. This was about 9:20. They actually came out awkwardly. Some girls were standing at the back and couldn't be seen by the audience. Juliet Haggermann had to ask them to make space for other girls. Anyway, their evening wear was gorgeous. It made up for what some of them lacked in looks.lol
Then Wild Child asked the CEO of NB Plc to join him on stage to present awards to the contestants. The CEO was represented by someone from the company.
Here are the winners of the awards
Miss Photogenic - Miss Cross River
Miss Congeniality - Miss Abuja
Best Traditional Costume - Miss Lagos
Then came the 'Search for Sera' sponsored by Lacasera. Their criteria for picking a winner in this category was a girl with virtue, insight, and love for her country. The MD of Lady Cobler, Tosin Dekalu represented the MD of Lacasera in presenting the award.
The winner was Miss Akwa-Ibom, who got a whopping one millionaire naira cash prize.
Next was the cut-down to 10 semi-finalists. Guy Murray-Bruce brought the list to the MC.
Here are the top ten semi-finalists the way they were called out.
Miss ogun
Miss Abia
Miss Ebonyi
Miss Imo
Miss Lagos
Miss Enugu
Miss Cross River
Miss Bayelsa
Miss Plateau
Miss Edo
Here are their pics
Miss Ogun
Miss Abia
Miss Ebonyi
Miss Imo
Miss Lagos
Miss Enugu
Miss Cross River
Miss Bayelsa
Miss Plateau
Miss Edo
After calling the top ten girls, all contestants left the stage and the top ten semi-finalists came back on stage one by one so we can see them clearly, individually. Miss Cross River's zipper was bad so we all saw her panties. The guys had fun with that. Miss Ogun tripped. The first trip of the night. 'Twas nice to see. While all this was going on, the girls were shown on screen as they introduced themselves.
After that, was 4/5 minutes of advert from the sponsors shown on the big screen, while Nelly's 'Promiscuous' was played.
All semi-finalists were then called back on stage where 5 finalists were announced.
Here are the 5 finalists the way they were called out.
Miss Edo
Miss Ogun
Miss Imo
Miss Plateau
Miss Bayelsa
Here they are
Miss Ogun
Miss Edo
Miss Plateau
Miss Bayelsa
Miss Imo
After this was the questions and answers segment
Question to Miss Bayelsa
'Why did you enter for MBGN?'
'I want to represent my country...'. The crowd started clapping, which made it hard to hear everything she said
Question to Miss Edo
'If you became MBGN, how would you encourage others to contests in pageants like this?'
Didn't hear her reply
Question to Miss Imo
'What are some qualities that a beauty queen should have?'
Answer 'A beauty queen should be intelligent, humble, beautiful, a christian...'. The crowd erupted in cheers...didn't hear what else she said.
Question to Miss Ogun
'Name one Nigerian role model and why?'
Answer 'Agbani Darego, because she has prooved that Nigerian women are beautiful'
Question to Miss Plateau
'If you can change anything about Nigeria, what would it be?' The crowd was shouting 'Nepa, Nepa' But she said something about helping children.
After the girls left the stage, a Rock Guitarist came on stage to perform MBGN's Theme song called 'The Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria'
After him, was Faze who turned the whole room crazy with his 'kolo mental' song. He was dressed in yellow jacket, white shirt, dark blue jeans, wine coloured tie and a black and white stripped cowboy hat. He looked really mental.
After that, MBGN 2006, Abiola Bashorun came out to take her final walk. Her dress which was designed by MoMo Couture was just not 'it'.
Then the time everyone had been waiting for. At about 10:27pm, President Silverbird Entertainment, Mr Guy Murray-Bruce came on stage to announce the winners.
Here they are:
4th Runner-up, MBGN Model - Miss Ogun
3rd Runner-up, Miss Ecowas - Miss Edo
2nd Runner-up, Miss Tourism International - Miss Plateau
1st Runner-up, Miss Universe - Miss Bayelsa
Winner, MBGN World- Miss Imo
Well, there you have it. 2007 MBGN pageant according to Linda Ikeji. What do you think of our new queen? Send me your thoughts. Also, If you enjoyed my reporting, then do drop a comment. Have a great day.
You can visit mbgnonline.com for more info.
