Miss Swaziland 2016/2017 Linda Hutchinson flanked by her First Princess Zethu Manana (R) and Second Princess Baby Mthimkhulu after their crowning.
EZULWINI – After three years with no Swazi beauty ambassador, Linda Hutchison scooped the beauty with a purpose crown at last.
The glitzy and glamorous Miss Swaziland 2016/17 event was a great success as most guests were dazzling in their evening wear despite the cold evening temperatures. Most of the guests started arriving at 7pm as their aim was to get the best seats to view the stage. The programme directors for the evening were Cheilla Vovovs and Banele Zwane, who officially opened the event at 8pm.
The 2016/17 journey to Miss Swaziland was concluded at Happy Valley Hotel on Saturday as Linda Hutchison was crowned after she oozed confidence on stage throughout the night. Taking the first princess title was Zethu Manana with second princess being Baby Mthimkhulu who expressed her joy through tears streaming down her face.
The night began on a high note as the guests for the evening were welcomed by Pageant SD committee member, Catrien Potgieter followed by the Swaziland National Arts and Culture (SNCAC) CEO, Stanley Dlamini who acknowledged all the hard work the new pageant committee had put in for the evening to be a great success.
The top 10 finalists were introduced in proudly Swazi custom made Golden Hands outfits inspired by the Imbali maidens traditional attire with Swazi flag colours. As the finalists walked on stage, the crowd could not help but make deafening noise for their favourites Tai Naude, Cebile Ntshalintshali and Keisha Bullock. As the evening progressed, most of the finalists warmed up and got used to the audience and walking the ramp with much more confidence, dressed in modernised African print casual wear which was made by Fundzi Dlamini of ZUBANI designs.
The elegant evening wear made by Etecetera Studio was the last outfit change that was modelled for the evening.
The evening wear which was showcased on the ramp was followed by the first questions for the top finalists. After the finalists had answered all the questions, most of the guests had made up their minds on their initial top three and that was detected through the noise and comments that were made by the audience.
SOURCE: Times of Swaziland
