The audience that came to cheer on their contestants. Photo | Isaac Ssejjombwe
Twenty one beauty queens have been selected as finalists for this year’s Miss Uganda beauty pageant which will eventually see one girl crowned as Miss Uganda later this year.
The beauty queens were selected after a month of regional tours that started on January 9 in West Nile before heading to northern Uganda, Fort Portal, Masaka and finally Kampala for the final pre-selection that happened on February 8 and 9.
Last Saturday evening, the 21 finalists were unveiled at a public event that happened at Kampala Serena Hotel – Katonga Hall.
The unveiling night saw the beauty queens participate in a catwalk on the runway as they were cheered on by friends and family members in the audience.
It was a spectacular scene watching people in the audience cheer on their contestants whenever they made their way to the stage.
Some people in the audience carried placards and manila papers with their contestants’ name while others took it a notch higher by attending the event with branded T-shirts bearing pictures and names of people they were supporting.
It would not be wrong to assume some had forgotten that these were not the finals of Miss Uganda. The support, however, is what is needed to encourage the participants, according to the Miss Uganda CEO, Brenda Nanyonjo.
“Keep it coming. This is what the girls need,” Nanyonjo said in her speech. “However, it is just the beginning because they have to engage in other activities before the grand finale.”
She added that it was not easy taking on the pageant 12 years ago as the beauty pageant was smeared with a lot of negativity previously but through perseverance, hard work and dedicated sponsors, they have managed to bring back sanity to the Miss Uganda pageant.
The evening also had performances from Vamos 256, who did two songs; Konkona and Ayala before Joseph Sax wowed the crowd with his skills on the saxophone, doing the late Elly Wamala’s Viola song.