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Senior Arts Reporter

The battle lines have been drawn.

The finalists have been announced and tomorrow, the organisers of the Miss Orient Zimbabwe will crown the queen and her princesses.

The inaugural pageant will see 10 girls aged between 18 and 28 competing for the crown at the College of Music, Harare.

It will run under the theme, “Catwalk to empower marginalised rural girl child” in a bid to promote and give the girl child, especially those in the marginalised areas, a chance to showcase their talent.

In an interview, pageant director Wendy Mapindu said all was set for the pageant which will be hosted by television personality Professor Nqobile Malinga.

“We did our auditions some months ago and unfortunately the Covid-19 pandemic affected us as we wanted to do the show two months ago,” she said.

“The pageant works with marginalised rural girl child and our theme is centering on pushing their talents, exposing and empowering them. We are going to be donating some sanitary pads too. The girls are from Bulawayo, Gweru, Victoria Falls, Masvingo, Harare, Lupane.”

Mapindu said unlike other pageants which will end up not awarding winners their prizes, the Miss Orient Zimbabwe winners will walk away with their prizes tomorrow.

“The winners will be given their prizes on the night. The queen will pocket US$200, while the princesses will take home US$100, among other consolation prizes. The pageant is called Miss Orient because we are reorienting the girls in different countries to build a community of girl child advocates and to fight the girl child social vices.

“They have already been groomed and trained and we hope to crown the best.”

Mapindu said the event will be a red carpet affair.

“The event will be hosted under the Covid-19 protocols and guests are expected to dress up for the occasion.

“Only 100 people are expected to attend and we have sold our tickets already.

“We have some guest celebrities, including judges, who are set to grace the occasion. Some of the performers include BaTroy, Natasha Muz and Alchemy.”