Little Miss Princess Botswana returns
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Friday December 7, 2018 13:17
Little Miss Princess of the World Botswana is the first children’s beauty pageant in the local beauty pageant industry.
In an interview with the local pageantry director Tebbie Lebanna, she said they will host the pageantry’s auditions tomorrow at Cresta Lodge.
“This pageant is getting into its fifth year of existence. Any child aged between eight and 16-years-old is allowed to partake in this event. At the audition stage, we want 30 contestants who will then go to the semi-finals where it will be taking only 20 to the grand finale. The audition fee is P300 per child,” she said.
She added that during the grand finale, the winners would get gifts and shop vouchers when the queen makes it to the international pageant that would take place in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2020. She said that after choosing the top 30 contestants, they would be hosting a cultural show that will be marketing Botswana to the international community and its media.
She added that there would also be a show for children to showcase their talents on the world stage to discover more of their God-given abilities. The local grand finale would be held end of April in Gaborone. The correct dates and venue will be announced on a later date.
Lebanna explained that since its instalment, former winners managed to get the exposure and experience from both national and international platforms.
She added that their confidence and self-esteem had therefore been boosted as well. “Those children also draw inspiration from other young girls that aspire to be the future Miss Botswana or compete in other beauty pageants both nationally and internationally.
She said the pageant was an international competition where she had to use the international pageant brand.
“When I come up with a pageant like this in Botswana I have to use their little Miss Princess of the World name. I decided to work with children instead because I wanted to groom them at a tender age so that when they get to the Miss World and Miss Universe stages it wouldn’t be difficult and they’d know what to do and what is expected of them,” she said.
She said a lot of girls wait to be above 18 then shoot straight to entering ‘big’ pageants such as Miss Botswana or Miss Universe. She said she was basically filling all the gaps after seeing all the necessary reasons to groom.
Lebanna explained that other countries make it at international level simply because they start grooming their girls at an early age like from two years of age saying that is why Botswana continues to fail at many of the global stages. It does not groom its girls from an early age to compete to win.