Ama is Miss Malaika ’10

Saturday, October 23, 2010 (The Mirror Pg 46)

By Rebecca Kwei
A NINETEEN-YEAR-OLD student of the University of Ghana, Legon, Ama Nettey, last weekend, was the proud winner of three Cs — Crown, Cerato car and cash- that the Miss Malaika beauty pageant offers.
Being an underdog, it was a bit of a surprise that she beat the nine other finalists to win the enviable Malaika crown.
Perhaps it was her answer to the crank question: “Who is an African? And what makes one an African? Is it the country of birth or the colour of the skin? Please give a detailed explanation of your answer.” that did the trick as the other final four had also struggled to do justice to the question.
However, many in the audience felt the first runner up, Stephanie Mensah, was the one to have won the ultimate prize.
Inspired from their trip to Egypt, the 10 finalists, dressed in sari, opened the show with a choreographed Egyptian dance.
As has been happening over the years during the finals of Miss Malaika and with other pageants, the delegates each gave a speech on various issues and then answered questions from the judges.
They addressed issues ranging from the effects of broken homes; abortion; opportunities; the African identity; the need to be charitable; leprosy; what young ladies go through just for money; belief and achievement; success; to revisiting our conscience.
The delegates’ answers to the questions posed to them by the judges on the issues they addressed were not impressive.
The talent show followed and it was Stephanie’s sketches of the dress she was wearing and another dress that impressed the judges to award her the Miss Talent award.
Delegates Ama, Stephanie, Berla, Belinda and Perpetual managed to make it to the final five and it was at this stage that they all had to answer the crank question to determine the winner.
For her prize, Ama took home a KIA Cerato saloon car, GH¢4,800 annual salary, GH¢15,000 promotional contract with MTN, a charity icon for MTN, GH¢1,200 MTN talk time, personal wardrobe from ABC Wax Print, a year's supply of cosmetics and perfumery from Nouvelle Gandour and working as Youth Ambassador for the Malaria Control Programme.
Stephanie was the first runner-up and she received a cash of GH¢2,000 as well as wax prints from ABC and cosmetics and perfumery from Nouvelle Gandour.
For placing third, Berla was rewarded with cash of GHC1,500 as well as wax print from ABC and cosmetics and perfumery from Nouvelle Gandour.
The night was interspersed with performances by Praye, Trigmatic, Banky W, D Black and VIP. Although, their performances were not extraordinary, the audience seemed to have been in sync with VIP.
Chris Attoh and Naa Ashorkor Mensah-Doku steered affairs while the judges were actors John Dumelo and Jackie Appiah; broadcaster, Paul Adom-Otchere and the Miss Malaika series god-mothers Anne Sekyi and Kay Bentsi-Enchill.