After a two-year break, M-NET Face of Africa, a talent hunt competition for models returns on a bigger scale
By Adetutu Audu
Three young African girls have so far been selected out of the ten that would strut the runway, with the winner going home with a mouth-watering US$50,000 cash prize and a three-year modelling contract.
At a casting held at the Gaborone International Convention Centre, Bostwana, 24-year-old Totwana Tema became the first finalist selected for the continental PayTV, MNET’s new season of Face of Africa. Albertina Shigwedha, a 19-year-old hairdresser and 24-year-old pilot, Maria Hiwilepo, came second and third respectively at the casting held at Protea Hotel, Furstenhof, Windhoek, Namibia. Standing at over 1.71m each, the trio were handpicked from many aspiring hopefuls by Face of Africa casting scouts, Kaone Kario, winner of Face of Africa 2005 and model industry veteran, Andiswa Manxiwa, during day-long casting sessions in both cities. Totwana, Albertina and Maria’s next step in the competition is a trip to the scenic Island of Zanzibar later this month to participate in a special model boot camp, where other top 10 finalists will be selected for the M-Net Face of Africa 2008 finale to be held in Sun City, South Africa on 29 November.Commenting on the selection of the trio, both Kaone and Andiswa said, from the moment it began, they had been proud to be part of the new season of M-NET’s Face of Africa. “That pride is multiplied every time we are at a casting and we meet talented, committed and confident young African women of our generation who are brave enough to chase their dreams.”
Segun Fayose of Multichoice Nigeria’s Corporate Communication and Public Affairs Unit, added that the duo of Kaone and Andiswa will be heading to 13 other African countries for the next six weeks in search of Africa’s newest catwalk sensation.
Casting had taken place in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania on 9 September; Nairobi, Kenya, 13 September; Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia 16 September; Lagos, Nigeria 20 September; Accra, Ghana 23 September; Maputo, Mozambique, and Lusaka, Zambia on 27 September. Casting will also take place on 10 October in Johannesburg and 11 October in Luanda, Angola.
M-NET pioneered the ground-breaking fashion and modelling initiative in 1997. Seventeen-year-old Oluchi Onweagba, now Orlandi, won the maiden edition.
Unarguably the most prominent product of the competition, the tall Oluchi has showcased creations from designers like Tommy Hilfiger, Jean Louis Scherer, Pierre Balmain, Christian Dior, Gianfranco Ferre, Chanel among others. She has also had the privilege of gracing the cover of magazines like Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, Elle, Vanity Fair, Allure among others.
Despite its huge acceptance and international exposure potential, the competition has not been consistent in its operations. Since its debut in 1997, the competition has been off the fashion scene twice. It was off the scene in 2002 due to lack of sponsorship, but it returned in 2005, as Nokia Face of Africa, with mobile phones manufacturer, Nokia, as headline sponsor. Two years on, M-NET announced the competition would be rested.
But Face of Africa is already a very popular brand on the continent and even when it was rested, the organisers had hinted it could soon be back. “Naturally, should we find strong sponsor interest which aligns with our needs, then we would look at the initiative in the future. We are definitely not saying goodbye, just taking it off our list of priorities at this time,’’ Joseph Hundah, Multichoice’s former Director of Operations, sub-Saharan Africa explained.
Indeed, the competition has returned bigger, with prize money at stake raised to US$50,000 from US$15,000, plus a three-year modeling contract with O Model Africa which is managed by Oluchi Onweagba, as well as other prizes like one-year accommodation in Johannesburg and Cape Town, where the agency operates, a coaching course, financial advice, photography test shoots, the creation of modeling Z-Cards and development of a modeling portfolio.
Comment