Beauty's Got a New Face
One of these is Face of Nigeria Angelz where fresh winners emerged recently in Lagos. Held at the Citi Lodge, Lekki, Miss Edo, Blessing Eze was the winner of the 2015 edition of the show.
Other finalists at the show include the second runner up, Miss Oluwafunmibi Ajaja and the first runner-up, Miss Tammy Andoya, representing Lagos and Cross River states, respectively. It all began when 14 girls were selected through auditions across Nigeria to contest.
Before the panel of judges comprising of former Miss University 2012, Queen Winifred; Ozoya Salami, CEO Angelseyez; Ikhide Elens Ehigbokan CEO, Midigraphs; Ayo Alasi, and Sandra Ikeji of Black Dove Modeling, contestants were tasked in cultural performances, catwalks and tests of Intelligence Quotient (IQ).
The good news is that the winner smiles to the bank with a sum of N1m cash prize, a car and a chance to represent Nigeria internationally in India, Asia in October. The 1st and 2nd runners-up get return tickets to any African country of their choice courtesy ASKY Airline. In performance that evening were young and energetic artistes such as Nosa of Chocolate City, Kennis Music’s rave of the moment, Joel; Emmerson from Sierra Leone, Ese Peters, Squeeze, Tunex, amongst others.
Certainly, Face of Nigeria Angelz is not just another money making venture. It is an initiative of the Angeleyez, a modeling agency known for raising world class personalities, faces of brands and contributors to the aesthetic appeal of advertising. Founded in 2009 by a young entrepreneur, Ozoya Salami, the agency has developed programmes that are geared towards capacity building in models while existing as a springboard in many models’ career life.
A case in point is the first winner of the pageant, namely Mimi Orjiekwe. She is arguably one of Nigeria’s finest actresses who got a cash prize of $2,000. Winning at the pageant also provided her the platform to start her own pet project “MIBI House of Hope” which serves orphans, widows and the less privileged. Asides that, she got an incentive contract from the organisation’s partners and sponsors.
Above all that, she got a husband, after winning the pageant, a rare reward at any such competition. To be sure, a ‘husband’ is not one of the prizes at the pageant but in Mimi’s case, it was a blessing and mark of good fortune associated with the pageant.
Face of Nigeria Angelz, beyond showcasing beauty and grace, builds the ideal model that represents what an African feminine cultural identity of this generation ought to be. Hence, the four-day camp was designed not only to develop physical fitness and good appearance, but to refine young women who can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their counterparts in other parts of the world.
Interestingly, the Face of Nigeria Angelz is a precursor to a good life for all participants. Since inception, professionalism in modeling business has been raised by more than just a notch as many of the models trained by the agency have featured prominently in television commercials, fashion shows and catalogues, fashion exhibitions, advert promotions, protocol, billboards and music videos.
The organisers of the pageant recently disclosed at a media briefing in Lagos that the Miss Heritage International Pageant 2015, founded in Zimbabwe has extended the hand of invitation to the winner of this year’s pageant.
Miss Heritage is an international beauty pageant that was created for women across the globe to impact positive change in the world, irrespectively of religion and racial differences. The current Miss Heritage title holder, Odessa Mae Tadaya, is from the Philippines.
“This year, we received from them a certificate that acknowledges our efforts and involvement with them, this allows us work as close affiliates, we’re also working with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to help actualise their pet projects,” said the organisers.
The pageant had the support of Dallas Cosmetics, a product brand by Edysmart Nigeria Limited. The company is rated as one that has a track record of producing high quality brand of beauty products, trusted by cosmetologists, hair specialists and barbers in Nigeria as well as neighbouring countries. Other supporting backbone for the pageant came from ASKY Airline.
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