Fifteen young Fijian women will be vying for the Miss World Fiji crown but only one will represent Fiji at the 67th Miss World Finals that will be held in China.

Pageant director Andy Blake yesterday unveiled the Miss World Fiji top 15 contestants.

He said they initially had 41 contestants from the four main centres around the country including one from New Zealand.

Mr Blake said it was hard to choose only 10 contestants as was the norm every year, and so they did it differently this year.

They chose the top 15 women.

“These girls will now compete to represent Fiji in the 67th Miss World finals in November and we will groom them to become Miss World contestants officially and then start engaging them in public events,” Mr Blake said.

Mr Blake said for the first time the pageant would have their public judging event on June 5, known as the Miss World Presentation.

The event will be held at Damodar City.

He said this will be open to the public and they would be able to view the contestants as they compete in the evening gown, top model and interview competition.

“We never opened our interview to the public but this is the first time that the public can see the girls live on stage.”

He said on June 10, they will then hold the grand coronation at the Grand Pacific Hotel where the winner will be crowned as Miss World Fiji.

Miss World Fiji contestant Jane Tipo Prasad at Grand Pacific Hotel on April 19, 2017. Photo: Ronald Kumar

From the start of the selection to the final top 15, their main criteria were looking for confidence in the young women.

“For me confidence is really important because that is what sells at the Miss World International pageant and yes there is also physical beauty and beauty from within.

“I can honestly say that we have 15 beautiful confident young Fijian women”.

He said it would be a challenge and huge task to train the women, but they were looking forward because this year’s standard of pageant was unlike previous years.

He said the contestants are experienced beauty pageants.

The final 15 includes one from Labasa, two from Suva, one from New Zealand and the rest are from Nadi and Lautoka.

Mr Blake acknowledged the sponsors, Fiji Broadcasting Corporation, Fiji Airways and Grand Pacific Hotel.

He also encouraged the public to show support to the young ambassadors because at the end of the day one of them would represent all Fijians on the larger platform of fashion and beauty.

One of the 15 contestant vying for Miss World Fiji crown, Enora Le Fustec 19 at Grand Pacific Hotel on 19 April, 2017. Photo: Ronald Kumar.

19-year-old Enora Le Fustee said she looks forward to the challenges before her.

Ms Fustee who was part of the 2012 Vodafone Hibiscus Festival hopes to prove herself in the Miss World Fiji pageant and improve on the category of public speaking.

Edited by Caroline Ratucadra

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