The journey to crowning the 44th Miss Nigeria is in top gear with 37 semi-finalists unveiled. In addition, the pageant organizers have given the public a chance to contribute to the process of choosing the 18 finalists who will make it into the boot camp.
From thousands of applications received, the panel of judges was tasked with finding 37 ladies who are not only uniquely beautiful and passionate about Nigeria and the girl-child, but also have values that align with that of the iconic organization.
The contestants were screened by an esteemed panel of judges comprising Bolanle Olukanni (TV personality/talk show host), Paul Ukonu (celebrity photographer), Onyeka Michael Ugwu (former beauty queen/medical aesthetician), and Ezinne Akudo (creative director, Miss Nigeria).
Miss Nigeria Popular Voting Process
The audition videos of each of the Top 37 contestants have been uploaded on the official Instagram handle. According to the creative director Ezinne Akudo who was the 38th Miss Nigeria herself, “the popular votes will account for 20% of the total scores that will qualify contestants for the final round.”
Wednesday morning, the organizers introduced a new twist by unveiling 3 wild card contestants selected from a pool of nominations from the public on social media. “The 37 Semi-finalists and 3 wild cards will need to get as many people as possible to repost, like, and comment on their videos on social media. The video with the most engagement gets the higher rank and in addition, boosts their chances of making it to the Bootcamp and grand finale,” Akudo further added.
Formed in 1957 with the motto, “Empowering Women Beyond Beauty’’ Miss Nigeria is an annual beauty pageant competition that showcases the positive attributes of Nigerian women. The winner will also portray exemplary qualities and serve as a role model for young women in the country.
To see the Top 37 contestants and vote, follow Miss Nigeria on Instagram. Voting however closes on Thursday the 18th of November at 11.59 pm, so hurry!
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