Competition
Screening exercises (also known as 'auditions') are held nationwide to select contestants, and successful auditionees will be coached on etiquette and stage presence at boot-camp before competing at the finale where segments include Interview and Evening Gown, and unlike Miss Nigeria, Swimwear. In the pageant's early days, contestants were allowed to wear maillots of their choice during the swimsuit parade. Identical bikinis are now used instead. Unlike most beauty contests, contestants are not normally required to display any talent, although a number have been asked to sing, dance, or recite poetry during the interview stage.
In the mid-nineties, after MBGN did not place at Miss Universe and Miss World, MBGN organisers placed height and weight restrictions on the contestants' entry forms, and judges were told not to select the woman they found most attractive, but the one with a greater chance of winning at international pageants.
Due to the country's conservative standards, very few contestants competed in the early days of MBGN, and competitors from Northern Nigeria are rare, as its predominantly Muslim population frown on beauty pageants. Guy Murray-Bruce, who succeeded his brother as pageant director in 1992 told The Guardian: "... getting the girls to come and participate was hard, and we literally had to beg them to participate. But since (former Miss World) Agbani won it in 2001, we don’t beg anyone anymore".
Prizes for the winner vary each year, but have always included cash; as of 2012, it stands at N3000,000, and some winners have also received a car.
Read more about this topic: Most Beautiful Girl In Nigeria (Pageant)
Famous quotes containing the word competition:
“The elements of success in this business do not differ from the elements of success in any other. Competition is keen and bitter. Advertising is as large an element as in any other business, and since the usual avenues of successful exploitation are closed to the profession, the adage that the best advertisement is a pleased customer is doubly true for this business.”
—Madeleine [Blair], U.S. prostitute and “madam.” Madeleine, ch. 5 (1919)
“Such joint ownership creates a place where mothers can “father” and fathers can “mother.” It does not encourage mothers and fathers to compete with one another for “first- place parent.” Such competition is not especially good for marriage and furthermore drives kids nuts.”
—Kyle D. Pruett (20th century)
“The praise of ancient authors proceeds not from the reverence of the dead, but from the competition and mutual envy of the living.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679)