Miss Teen International Botswana is back

Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Friday March 19, 2021 23:14

The Miss Teen International Botswana was established in 2018 and licenced to Diamond Pageantry Academy, with the aim of finding and developing talented young ladies from across the country.

The show comes back after being postponed for a year. The pageantry public relations officer, Chedza Setimela told Arts & Culture auditions for the pageant were held in 2019 after crowning their first queen.

She said they were forced to put the pageant on hold in order to understand the intensity of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, so as to take proper precautions when moving forth with the competition last year.

“We had 60 girls from all across the country, but because of the long wait some had to forego the competition because of age. We are now down to 42 girls and looking forward to picking our top 16 for the finale,” Setimela explained.

“Our top 16 will be picked based on their walk, character, ability to answer the judges’ questions with poise and confidence. We also have a multimedia award, which the public gets to vote for by liking the contestant profile on our social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. The winner of this award will automatically go through, so this year the public can help put their favourite through.”

Setimela added that after picking their top 16, they plan on having informative yet fun activities such as a makeup and presentation skills seminars with contestants through the month of April.

She said they were yet to confirm the proceedings of the finale as their decisions are influenced by the current COVID-19 regulations. Setimela revealed that since events have been shut down they were waiting to hear from the government and finalise on the type of coronation they are going to have either virtual or live following the Covid regulations.

“We are hoping we will be able to host the finale on May 1, 2021. We urge the public to stay tuned to our social media been Facebook, Instagram and YouTube @MissTeen International Botswana and follow our journey as we search for the new queen. Whoever is crowned Queen this year will walk away with a P10 000.00 cash prize, the first runner up, P5 000.00 and the second runner up will walk away with P2 500.00,” Setimela said. She revealed they were also looking for sponsors, which has now become more difficult because companies too have been hit hard by the pandemic and have very little to spare. “But we are still looking because we want to give our contestants the full Miss Teen International experience.”