The Miss Rwanda 2018 beauty pageant was officially launched on December 13 by Rwanda Inspiration Backup, the official franchise holder of the pageant.

Registration started December 14 and ends January 13, 2018.

Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, Dieudonne Ishimwe, the CEO of Rwanda Inspiration Backup, said registration is done strictly online (www.missrwanda.rw).

"We are so happy with the progress of the contest so far, thanks to the amazing effort made by our stakeholders. However, we are still learning and we want it to go further. The changes we are making are not in vain, we want to improve the platform and push it to another level,” said Ishimwe.

"I am happy that everyone did their best to see the pageant get to where it is right now, via media, through ourselves and our sponsors. It is something we cannot ignore and we hope that we can go even further,” he added.

Also present was Miss Rwanda 2017, Elsa Iradukunda, corporate sponsors and the organisers of the competition.

Iradukunda thanked the public for the support and attributed her success to the organisers and sponsors of the event.

"I thank all sponsors because without them, my projects would never have been achieved. I have experience from both my project implementation and the international beauty contest. I’m also thankful for the support from my sponsors and Rwanda Inspiration Back up,” said Iradukunda.

For the fourth year running, Rwanda Inspiration Back up Ltd will partner with Cogebanque as the main sponsors in the 2018 pageant.

"We proudly remain the main sponsor of Miss Rwanda beauty pageant and this time round, the prize for Miss Rwanda 2018 reinforces the image of Cogebanque,” said Antoine Iyamuremye, Marketing Manager| Cogebanque Ltd.

"The winner will get a brand new 2018 Suzuki,” Iyamuremye explained.

This year, the search will see the number of contestants rise from 25 to 30, after auditions across the country.

Preliminary selections will start in Musanze District on January 13 before heading to Rubavu District on January 14.

On January 20, the search will be conducted in Huye District, and Kayonza in the Eastern Province the following day and will conclude in Kigali on January 27.

During the auditions, contestants will be allowed to answer questions in four languages spoken in Rwanda; Kinyarwanda, French, English and Kiswahili.

After the preliminaries, only 20 competitors will be selected for an intensive two week boot camp, where they will be tested in three areas: beauty, brain and culture.

Last year, only 15 contestants were eligible for boot camp.

During boot camp, the girls will be enlightened on different issues including Rwanda’s history, cultural values and taboos, and how to develop their projects as they prepare for their final journey to the Miss Rwanda crown.

New twist

This year’s contest will include a new test titled "Prejudgment”, where each contestant will do a written and one-on-one interview on how best their projects can impact society. The best three projects will be implemented.

"We appreciate the projects implemented by previous beauty queens, but this time we want to see how we can make the best out of the top three projects and carry out their implementation through shared ideas by Miss Rwanda and the runners up,” Ishimwe explained.

The grand final will be held at the Kigali Convention Centre (KCC) on February 24, 2018.

Miss Rwanda 2018 winner will also receive a monthly salary of Rwf800, 000 courtesy of Cogebanque and a package of additional prizes that will include cosmetics and air tickets to international beauty contests from RwandAir, among other goodies from different sponsors.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw