As I continue with my super focus on pageants, this week I want to move away from Miss Namibia and focus on other smaller pageantries around the country. Because Miss Namibia is shxt, I’m guessing that shxt trickled down to other smaller pageants in the country.
In the last six months I have attended at least seven different pageants. All of them different but every single one of them making the same mistakes. I’m not sure whether there is a committee comprising of pageant heads in Namibia that decide on pageant formats but whatever the case may be, it’s all wrong. There are three blanket categories to pageants in Namibia. These are casual wear, traditional wear and evening wear. Kindly note the term “blanket”. Which simply means one or two pageants might have a bit of difference in their categories, which in many instances are cocktail wear, sportswear and career wear.
However the blanket categories are the popular categories. I believe that the pageant organisers are missing out on a great opportunity at teaming up with designers and clothing shops. The organisers should seek to team up with designers and clothing shops to dress the contestants for these categories. It is disheartening to see some contestants with a less fortunate social-economic background being put on a pedestal as other contestants with another contestant with a fortunate social-economic background during these categories.
It makes for an awful scene to have one contestant looking good in a well-polished outfit, and the other contestant looking ordinary because perhaps the parents/guardians could not afford an outfit for their offspring. Getting clothing companies and designers on board simply levels the playing field in a set up meant to pit one contestant against the next. The second issue is entertainment on the night. Pageant organisers tend to have too many entertainers on the night, which ends up shadowing the contestants. One might argue that one needs entertainers on the night to fill the timing gaps created by contestants changing into their next set of clothing. Well then that would mean that you only need two entertainers on the night.
The first entertainer is to perform during the first change between casual wear and traditional wear, and the second entertainer is to perform during the change of hands between traditional wear and evening wear. The third part in the programme that might need a bit time killer would be when the judges are tallying up the scores after the top five have answered their questions. That is where the power of a good Dj and a good MC comes into play. So two entertainers, a Dj and an MC is all you need. When you have more than that, it tends to kill the purpose of the night, which should be to celebrate the contestants.
My final advice to pageant organisers, LESS IS MORE! Your programme should be as straight and short as possible. Cut out all other additions to the programme. For instance, the last seven pageants I’ve attended, there were speeches. Like…why?!!! Why are you giving me a speech? I am lekker drunk and on other outlawed substances and you want to come give me a speech?! It’s not going to work.
Many times audiences make a noise throughout these speeches. Thus drowning the speaker causing the core message of the speech to get lost. The sound at times is also not favourable for a speech. If a speech is really that important, record a short video of the speaker intended to deliver the speech, play it in the beginning when people are still fresh, and then move on with the programme.
Until the next Loop, we say #GMTM
Song of the week: Doris: Kissing
Flop of the week: Jay Five: I love it
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