Yes everyone, This is going to be my last post as Nigerican... i made this decision a while ago, but i still continued to blog despite how i was beginning to feel. I started blogging not because it was the "in" thing, but because i had a lot to say and i enjoy writing . After reviewing numerous blogs , it seems to me that next to being a make-up artist in 9ja or some kind of celebrity, being a blogger is next in line. If u've read my blog from the get, then u know i hate overrated sturvs and can't be bothered ... so i am proper giving up the blogworld , well not entirely... i'll still come for my occasional fix, but anything else - I no dey do again. Ok , that was a whole lot of grammar , onto my post.
MNIA 2008
The Journey to LA
After only getting one hour of sleep, me and my girl hit the road on our 5 hour drive to Los Angeles , where the pageant would be taking place. The ride was soooo long and very tiring , especially since my A.c isn't working ( don't judge me ) .
By the time we reached L.A , we where as hot as a Christmas goats with a sudden outbreak of malaria before being executed. We checked into our hotel ( The Manhattan Beach Marriott) and proceeded to freshen up. Mind you , we where 5 Nigerian girls... 2 very sweaty and 3 very hungry... needless to say, there was an urgency to shower quickly and feed promptly before getting ready for any show.
At 5:40pm, our program coordinator began rushing us to finish getting ready, because the show was "scheduled" to start at 6pm.
The Show
We arrived at the Redondo Beach Performing arts Center @ 6:05pm and the show began at 7:30pm...not 6pm. For a Nigerian event, i was rather impressed as i did expect a 3 hour delay... so Bravo for not letting us wait for 3 hours.
The show began with us singing the National Anthems... which i felt was very appropriate for opening any event.
Next was an opening number by the delegates, which was rather good and very entertaining... even gave me goosebumps. After the delegates exited the stage, Kenneth Emerson ( Founder and organizer of the Pageant) came on stage to apologize for their tardiness and remind us of our purpose this evening. He introduced the judges and then via a screen introduced our hosts for the night.
... let me just say,The introduction of the hosts kinda caught the whole audience off guard... and i'll explain. Without any real warning, a screen starts descending from the heavens and clips from Hollywood movies begin to show... @ first we where all like WTF, what does this have to do with the pageant... but after a good 10mins, u realize the clips are only focusing on two stars ... Flash back to Kenneth saying our hosts are str8 from Hollywood ... and viola , my brain told me these were our host... Ebbe Bassey and Sammi Rotibi.
OMG , I must say Ebbe Bassey stole that whole show... she was funny, smart, and beautiful... infact she was awesome. Mr. Rotibi was not so bad himself ... he is cute, somewhat funny... but whoever picked out his shoes needs to be sacked ... the guy had on one proper suit ( he looked goood) and then some unflattering shoes.
Anywho , back to the show. All the delegates were very beautiful and charming. They all looked hot in their outfits, except for a couple that kinda fell a tad bit off ( i won't call states cus i don't believe in knocking individuals who try... but if u where there, then u saw the few).
When it came to talent , i must be honest and says some of the contestants blew the audience away and others left the audience with jaws dropped in disbelief.
The piano playing by Miss Abuja was great, The Poetry by Miss Imo was moving, The dance by Miss Enugu gave me goosebumps. I don't want to point any performance out as bad but lets just say when the were bad they were awful and painful. At a point i felt very bad for the girls , because the audience was hardcore. The chick behind us must have given every contestant a nickname, and some random dude kept yelling out some rather razz commentary, not to mention the inappropriate laughing from the crowd... but i guess that's 9ja for us ( still very unacceptable).
The time came for questions & answers, and i braced myself, cus public speaking is hard anyday. I must be honest here and say, i was rather disappointed in how most of the delegates didn't answer their questions in entirety or correctly. Infact the only person i can recall was Miss Akwa Ibom... her question was " what qualities do u think a good leader should posses"... that babe hit the answer on the head , but because of her pronunciation, the audience kept interrupting with laughter...too bad i didn't have enuff balls to stand up and shout "SHUT UP!!!", but Sammie Rotibi did , and he asked the audience to be considerate of the contestants... nice one Sam.
The final 5 were picked , and all the girls i expected to be there were there... Miss Kaduna, Enugu, Imo, Oyo, and Adamawa... all very beautiful girls. These 5 , had their own set of questions and answers . History repeated itself yet again( in less than 5 mins), but this time Miss Enugu was the only one who answered the question properly and she was awesome. I believe the audience was sure she would be the winner.
THE WINNER
After a couple of jokes from our host, the crowd was kinda ready to know the winner so we could proceed to the after parry. To cut a long story short , there was an outburst in the audience because the person we all expected to win didn't. Trust Nigerians, i don't even know what word to use to describe our people oh... they proper started to walk out of the hall. I am soooo glad the new queen ( Ronke) was too over joyed to even notice... u go girl, u did a great job.
The After Parry
To be honest, i was very stoked about the whole after parry. However, since i had only had an hour of sleep, drove 5 hours , and just sat thru a whole pageant any little thing wud piss me off. Lets just say a couple of things upset us (the girls and I), so after 3mins of deciding wether or not to even go in, we got back in the vehicle and drove to our hotel for some wine and a goodnites sleep.
In Conclusion
If you are a Nigerian and reside in America, you have to attend atleast one of these pageants. It was a very refreshing experience. It is also something different to attend with friends.It was a good event.
I give it to those babes, for having a whole lot of courage. They all did a fabulous job and r all Miss Nigerians in America to me... and their families of course.
I can't wait to see more of Ebbe Bassey... she rocks!!!!.
That's a wrap from Nigerican and her Soap opera. The Soap continues , but without my cyber haven... Love u blogville ... ciao *wink* ... wish u all your hearts desires.
