Focus: The disappointment that was the Miss NUR beauty pageant

Last Friday, all roads led to the southern province for the widely publicised, much anticipated Miss NUR contest. The National University of Rwanda (NUR) is the pioneer of such events, and this was the third time they had held the contest. It all began on the wrong foot. The show scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m., commenced at a miserable 5:45 p.m. Some one needs to tell event organisers about time keeping because the phenomenon is going astray. Higiro Jean-Pierre, president of Campus Initiative Project (CIP) - the organisers of the pageant since time memorial - stepped up the podium amidst thunderous booing to tell the students how the late opening wasn’t their doing. Then students, rowdy and disgruntled, even booed the sponsors, MTN, SMS Media, SULFO, LOTTO, VOLCANO, and HORIZON as the were being recognised. Only BRALIRWA, for oblivious reasons, was shown some appreciation. The other notable survivor was Hotel BARTHOS owned by Mzee Sebikangaga who is the immediate neighbour of the campus and fond of interacting with the students. Miss Uganda and Miss Congo (DRC) were the beauty queens from the region, yet many others had been promised. Another let down to the sponsors and students. The DJs and their music were also a disappointment. At one point music was stopped as one of the girls was strutting the catwalk, only to be returned when the contestant had lost her footing. Next time professional DJs ought to be hired, not students with ghetto blasters. This was the third time the contest was held in this academic stronghold, but it was the first time eight female students vied for the crown. However, our girls still have a lot to do in the field of catwalk. They looked very nervous and out of place. Most of the girls couldn’t master the flow of the music that is meant to guide down the catwalk. The MC is always a driving force for the success of any event. Even highly celebrated, multi lingual Alice Akineza was unable to capture the attention of the noisy students despite valiant attempts. At 6:30p.m., we got our first music performance by The TESTAMENT- a group based at NUR. It was clear that these guys have a large following at the university but it was hard to grasp one single word from their songs such was the quality of the speakers used for the occasion Casual wear was the first theme presented by the contestants. Still many of the girls failed to master the beats and their ‘catwalking’ was pretty average. Only one or two out of the eight tried doing something close to what was expected of them. At 6:53, in came Tom Close, the current music phenomenon in Rwanda. The medical student performed two of his tracks with students singing along to the chorus. Undoubtedly the highlight of the evening. The most anticipated moment of the contest was none other than the swimsuit competition. Countrywide it was the first time this theme was presented in any pageant. The crowd couldn’t wait. However, perhaps not surprisingly by this point, expectations were not met. The girls had a piece of cloth covering half of their legs and the whole upper body. Call it winter suits presentation! At 7:15 a creative dance group took on the stage. NUR students, not accustomed to this kind of entertainment, decided the group out stayed their welcome and sent them off stage with their clapping (the send off sign at NUR). Though it was hard to focus on anything other than the supposed beauties, the day is called the Rector Excellence Award. This day is meant to recognise and appreciate the best performing students, for academic achievement, initiations and sports. It is also meant to acknowledge associations that fostered the development of NUR in the past year. The winners take home Frw50,000 as a piece of appreciation. Notable winners were Medical Students Association (MESA) and Tom Close for best student association and best musician respectively. If we can forget about the pageant for a second, the evening really belonged to Jean Paul Uwizihiye, a student in Medicine who initiated Travel to Teach, an association that is involved in exchange between post graduate students involving the NUR and the University of Copenhagen. The three year old initiative has a whopping Frw200million at its disposal. Uwizihiye won Best Campus Initiator. At 19:57, the guest of Honor Joseph Habineza, minister of sports and culture arrived (late) with the university rector Professor Silas Rwakabamba. Despite their tardiness, the received a warm welcome and the Rector looked happy to succeed in bringing the minister back. Habineza has attended every Miss NUR contest. The Miss NUR contest resumed shortly afterwards with creative wear, the pieces were eye catching but the contestants still looked out of place. The talent show was the next disaster; three of the contestants danced to one traditional song, another said she was combining many African traditions only to dance to Nakudata- a dancehall song from Ugandan, while dressed in a Halloween like costume; another read a long and boring poem about a war. The crowd was justified to cut her short. Her counterpart was no exception; she entered dressed in high heeled boots, tight jeans with a guitar, only to play the same beat throughout - what wasted glamour! Evening wear was the next theme, and it passed, well like other themes. Then came the part most beauty queens hate with a passion; questions from the jury. You can’t believe it; one contestant failed didn’t even know the minister of foreign affairs. However, one bright spark was well informed about Anorexia Nervosa, a disease that affects most models. She had to win the crown! Contact: Bryok14@yahoo.com