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Dressed to kill . . . Mr Ugly winner William Masvinu (in blue short) shows off his charm

Brenda Phiri Arts Correspondent
Often people have asked what does Mr Ugly do? Do the contestants have to prepare for the show like what we see at beauty pageants? In fact, we know beauty contestants spend a fortune on manicure and pedicure but the same cannot be said of the Mr Ugly contest.
In most cases in beauty pageants models have to prepare for weeks to ensure they look their best on the night. Models also have to diet, go for skin treatments, hair-dos and shopping for outfits. And yet for Mr Ugly contestants it is exactly the opposite.

Mr Ugly contestants have nothing to prepare for other than flaunt their ugliness.
Interestingly, even in camp, Mr Ugly contestants go for beer binges courtesy of their sponsors and on the night of event they will be stoned.

Even the clothes that they wear are supposed to enhance the ugliness. The only good that comes out of it is that they get to compare each other’s ugliness.

Two-time winner William Masvinu, said he came prepared for the title after going through rigorous rehearsals.
“My ugliness comes naturally to me and although I did a bit to prepare for the show, I let them do the rest,” he said.

His manager, Michael Gundo, said as a preparatory measure, Masvinu did not cut his hair.
“A bit of choreography together with his funny clothing helped him on stage but it was all minimum effort,” said the manager.
The founder and national co-ordinator of the pageant, David Machona, spoke on the purpose of the pageant and how it all began.

“The idea of holding a contest for ugly people started off as a joke as I was sitting with my friends four years ago. We were comparing passers-by to find out who was the ugliest of them all,” he said.

Fast forward to today, the show has grown in popularity because of the comedian’s innovativeness. Machona, however, said although ugly people are made fun of, they are beautiful in their way and should be proud of it.

“The pageant is meant to celebrate ugliness. This is our way of encouraging people in the society to flaunt their ugliness because that is who they are,” he said.

Just like beauty pageants, organisers of Mr Ugly have worked out plans on how their contestants will give back to their communities.

“We are working on a big project to ensure that the presence of Mr Ugly is felt. Previously, we have indicated that the winners would get endorsement deals with local companies. We have decided to make it more interesting by clenching advertising deals for pain killers, detergents and other stuff that are shunned by beauty pageants.,” he said.

Speaking on the boot camp, Machona said the Mr Ugly camp was different from that of beauty pageants.
“Prior to the show, we normally host a party for the contestants. That way, they interact and drink beer. At the same time they compare each other’s ugliness.

Meanwhile, it is back to business for Masvinu whose five minutes of fame ended on Friday night.
The man who wears size 16 shoes is at tout at Mbare Musika.