The search for Rwanda’s Mister and Miss Elegancy started over the weekend with a number of wannabe contestants turning up for the casting held on Saturday at Ubumwe Grande Hotel as the race for the crown began.

The pageant, which is going to run for the second time in Rwanda, is a platform to encourage young men and women to follow their dreams and hone their talents.

Emmanuel Murenzi, the pageant coordinator, told The New Times that this is a platform which gives contestants an opportunity to express themselves by developing their projects which are presented to the public.

"These youth have projects and the skills to turn those projects into reality but they don’t have a platform to express themselves to get the support they need.”

"We want someone who can represent others, has good public speaking skills to present a given project and, most importantly, their elegance or how they look in front of the public,” Murenzi said

He said the pageant is a platform that can help and push young people to realise their dreams and it is an opportunity for them to showcase their capabilities.

Beauty, elegance, intelligence, and catwalk skills are the conditions that the jury, led by model Winnie Kalisa, was putting into consideration during the casting, which is ongoing until next weekend before the final 20, 10 males and 10 females, are announced for the next phaseof the competition.

During the practice sessions, contestants will be brought together and advised to develop their projects further, equip them with runway skills and improve their public speaking skills during their project presentations.

Only contestants aged between 18 and 25 years old are allowed to participate for the contest.

Murenzi said the contest has been given a new shape with a plan to make it a regular concept and there is a dream to make it international.

"We want to make it a regular, annual pageant. We already put all the past challenges behind as we now have a team ready and able to push the platform to greater heights and, as of now, we don’t think anything is going to stop us.”

"We have a dream to make the pageant even international. We have what it takes to make it happen and the contestants already know what it means for them since they have good ideas on board to present with a mentality of ‘I can talk to people and they can listen to me’. We expect only the best from it,” he said.

He believes the platform will enrich a lot of young people with abilities to express their ideas before the public.

"We are creating a platform of self-expression. We have young people nationwide who have a lot of project ideas. I am sure they are going to explore this opportunity  and make their dream come true,” Murenzi adds.

"We want them to have the confidence that they can have. We want to motivate them to realise their dream through their talent. Their success is our dream and if we come together as a team, we can achieve something big,” he further said.

The winners for the Mister and Miss Elegancy crowns will be announced at the grand finale scheduled for August 31, and will walk away with a cash prize worth €250 each.

Organisers are courting more potential sponsors with the hope of increasing the prize money as well as other rewards  that can help contestants to implement their projects for a period of one year.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw