Bridget Masinga: series host.
The
Miss South Africa finalists are in for a
whole new kinda scrutiny this year. Gone are the hours of preening and starvation behind-the-scenes until we see them in their stick legs on the runway, gone are the secret moments of cat'foolery between them.
Now, we get to see it all. Mzansi Magic has announced that this year's pageant will be preceded by a nine-episode reality show titled The Road To Miss South Africa.
The news immediately reminded me of Face Of Africa which did the same thing with the build-up - and has now it's disappeared. I wonder what's happened to it? At the
last one they promised a Plus Size version and there hasn't been a word about it since. I'll do some sniffing to find out.
So what's your first impression on Miss SA as reality fodder? I reckon it's perfect on one hand but could lead to a dilemma on another. We might end up not liking whoever wins it 'cos we've seen her nine weeks and know
all her sides. Usually we just get to see them briefly so there's not enough time to get annoyed and irritated but this way, it's a verrry different story.
Here's more about the format from the release ...
In a bold, innovative move, Mzansi Magic has transformed the Miss SA pageant into a reality show The Road to Miss SA. The series is a one hour weekly show hosted by Bridget Masinga and premieres on Sunday 9 October at 17h30.
The semi-finalists are in for the ride of their lives as their progress is chartered over the coming months during the workshops at Sun City Resort and in the interview sessions with the judges.
The judges are: Principal Judge and former Miss South Africa Sonia Raciti-Oshry, Joan Ramagoshi (former Miss SA & businesswoman), Sonia Booth (former Miss SA 2nd Princess and model), Kieno Kammies (Talk show host & Journalist), Gert Johan Coetzee (Designer) and Paledi Segapo (Fashion Consultant).
Mzansi Magic’s Commissioning Editor Vanessa Jansen says, “We are really excited to be part of The Road to Miss SA for the second year running. The live pageant has always been a very glamorous affair and was one of the highlights of our schedule last year.
"This year we are really upping the emotional engagement for the viewers by investing further in a reality type show that will start 9 weeks before the finals and will give viewers the opportunity to get to know the finalists and have a clearer sense of who their favourites are as they head towards the finals”.
Another new introduction is the elimination process - the semi-finalists will be given tasks to complete during the workshops and will be judged accordingly.
By the end of the workshops only 16 girls will remain and the 12 finalists will only be revealed a week before the pageant which will be held in the Superbowl at Sun City on 11 December 2011.