Nigerian girls shine at int'l pageant

Little Miss Planet 2012, Victoria Etumudon(middle) and other winners at the Little Miss & Mister Planet 2012 in Bulgaria recently

 

 

 

Nigerian children have continued to prove that they can hold their own anywhere in the world, as four girls who represented the country in the just concluded prestigious international child pageant tagged 'Little Miss and Mister Planet', excelled in various categories. The 7th edition of the competition, which held from 17th to 24th June, 2012 at the Victoria Palace Hotel in sea resort Sunny Beach Bulgaria, had 11-year old Fred Ann Eko emerging Little Miss Photogenic. Freda is a member of Charming Kids Club, Nigeria and the current Middle Charming Princess in Nigeria.
Other members of the Charming Kids who also won were Anita Etumodun, 11, Gloria Becky Sam, 8, and Victoria Etu-modun, 9.
Anita emerged second runner-up in 11-14 years category of Little Miss Planet. In previous completions, Anita had also won the Supermodel of the Universe in George, as well as Junior Miss Universe and Most Talented Singer in Turkey.
Interestingly, Gloria was named Little Princess while Victoria emerged the Little Miss Planet in 8-10 years category.
The kids were given different awards, crowns and sashes amongst other gifts from the Mayor of Nessebar in Bulgaria.
First held in 2006, the pageant is a project of Model Agency “Intersound” Bulgaria. It is headed towards forming sense of aesthetics; will for self-improvement and strengthening the individuality of children. Contestants are girls and boys from 4 to 15 years old, gathered from all over the world
. Some of the contestants in this year’s event were from Ukraine, Russia, Venezuela, Bulgaria, Dominican Republic, Latvia, Georgia, Hungary, Nigeria, South Africa, Tatartan and Uruguay. It was a celebration of beauty and talent as children from all over the world showcased their stuff, had fun and made friends.
Speaking to Young & Next Generation about the children’s successes, President and founder of Charming Kids organisation, Mrs. Frances Oho, who led the delegation, said she was proud of the girls for making the country proud.
She said: “ I feel good because it shows that Nigeria has got talent, especially chil-dren. They even did ‘Azonto’ during the dance competition and everybody was amazed at their performance. I’m also hap-py that members of our club have always excelled at various international competi-tions that they have represented Nigeria.
“The first time we attended an international competition in 2007 in Egypt, Marvis Okpalla emerged Little Miss Universe, the first African to win it. She was only 10 years old then. In 2008, we went to London and Lilian Orakwe won the Best Model and Most Talented Girl. In the UK in 2009, Ezinne Aniakor won the second position and was crowned the Most Talented African Child.
“In 2010, in Istanbul, we won in ‘TV Start competition’. It was a presentation programme. We went with four children and all were presented certificates and trophies. Amarachi Alozie won most awards there. She released her musical album, D’Angelic 3, which pulled a lot of crowd. In 2011, we also went to Georgia for Little Miss Universe and Anita Etumudon came second. She was also chosen by one of the fashion houses there. She won Little Supermodel of the World.”