Hello reader,
Saturday. The big day. The day of reckoning. Every one of us
was up bright and early. We packed our bags with all the things we’d need for
the day/night and a lot of girls packed their bags to leave…forever. *muffled
sob* I knew this day would come but I also wouldn’t have minded spending yet
another week with the girls because every single one of them are super amazing.
Just beautiful souls.
We had breakfast then left for the venue, the talent show
was up first. When we arrived at the venue it was still in its early stages of
preparation and the MC, Adriaan, was even helping to set up the stage. We put
on our talent clothes and they called us individually to perform, with Marisa
and one kindly man whose name I didn’t quite catch judging us. There were going
to choose the Top 5 talents who would perform at the show later that night,
then the rest of the judges would choose one winner. I did my hip-hop dancing
to Beyonce’s Upgrade You (I worked so hard for a whole month on it, practicing
day and night and I’m rather proud of myself for that) and the others performed
their various talents! What's funny is that I had initially decided to perform a very rad poem I had written months back for the talent and my sister suggested dancing instead so that I could accommodate both the deaf and hearing audience.
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| Megan, Alexis and I striking a pose in our talent outfits. My boobs aren't that big and that's a loose crop top soo... |
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| *deep breathes* They are going to kill me but... from left: Coleen, Chanel, Christi and Chanika. *hires bodyguard* |
As we took to the ramp, some of the girls were called to have their hair done at a hair salon within walking distance of the venue. We walked, walked, and did more walking in our heels, trying really hard to nail the routines as people were busy around us shifting tables for the night. The make-up artists arrived and started doing make-up some of the girls who had come back from having their hair done and then after that, the girls had their interview with DTV. Soon the rest of us ran over to the salon to have our hair done and yet again, I worried whether the hairstylists would know what to do with my hair as it was in twists and that isn’t something they specialised in. We waited for a hairstylist to be free. Alexis, who was the first to be called to have her hair done was still busy curling it which meant she missed all the walk routine practice and had to hurry the moment she was done. Time was ticking and Elzane and I still had to do our make-up! Not to worry though, soon every one’s hair was done but since mine is long and blah blah blah what I mentioned above, I was the last to leave but I was given a good luck hug from the very fabulous hairstylist. Seriously, that woman embodied fabulousness. She could have as well been a model herself. I hurried back to the venue to have my make-up applied then very soon after, DTV interviewed me. Whew, I’m still beating myself up over that interview as I jumbled up my answer. The first question was ‘what makes you unique’ and I spewed a lot of nonsense that I’m still shocked came out of my mouth. Bella! *chastised self* The next two questions (‘which past winner do you like best?’ and ‘what advice would you give to deaf children?’) were okay but my answer to the first question will haunt me as long as I live. It’ll be one of those moments you randomly remember years later then cringe. When the interview is aired I’ll be covering my eyes.
Hair done, make-up done. It was almost showtime (the show
was to start at 7pm) and we hurried to get dressed in our swimsuits (the first segment
of the night). I got dressed in a pink bikini and I really applaud myself for
deciding to wear a bikini instead of a one-piece swimsuit since I have a large
belly button due to an external hernia and it had been an object of insecurity as
long as I can remember. When I was
younger, it was much, much bigger but as I grew up it got a little bit smaller
but it was still considerably larger than ‘outie’ belly buttons. The girls had
various reactions to it and I didn’t really care, some of the reactions were
amusing to be honest. The swimsuit section wasn’t very looked forward to by
most of the girls because we weren’t all skinny and yes there’d be cellulite,
stretch marks and not all of us had taut, flat tummies and we were going to
parade on stage in swimsuits! How
gallant!
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| Xolisile, |
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| Elrie, Me, Christi and Coleen. Cocktail dress selfies! |
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| Lefa (Miss Deaf SA 2013) and I |
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| Bad lighting + crappy phone camera = selfie |
We waited in bated breath as we waited for the show to begin
and soon it was showtime! We each walked individually. I wasn’t really nervous
as I’ve done it before but what got my hands shaking was the pressure to be
perfect. I was 11th and when I walked the ramp, the venue was
packed. Smile, shoulders back, walk, eye
contact with the judges. Then it was back to quickly change into our
cocktail dresses. I was planning to wear my red and black cocktail dress but I
had forgotten the satin belt that went with it back at the hostel (cue a lot of
mental slaps) and the dress didn’t really go well without its belt. Luckily I
had packed a turquoise bodycon dress (the same one I wore on Monday to dinner)
and I quickly donned that one. While we were changing there were people
performing and singing but we didn’t see any of them from backstage. We also
had to wait for a little while to come back out but out we went. Individual
walks. Smile, shoulders back, walk, eye
contact with the judges. Back in then back out to stand on stage as a group
as we were handed roses and then we did a group walk, then back into the
dressing room. While in the dressing room, I looked in the mirror and my eyes
widened in horror! I had red lipstick on my teeth and I was out there smiling
widely at the judges and the audience. I was mortified!
We took off our cocktail dresses and put on our talent
clothes as we waited for the top 5 to be announced: Elrie (flute), Chanika (modern dance), Elzane
(poetry dance), Megan (poetry) and Xolisile (Venda dance). Sadly I wasn’t
chosen (it was Beyoncé for goodness sake! I thought
that was fool proof! Haha!) The top 5 performed as the rest of us changed into
our evening dresses. After the talent section was over we waited quite a bit to
be called out again. It was a looong wait which is why I was able to take
photos in our dresses backstage. And we were starving! It was nearing 10pm and
we hadn’t eaten a thing!
We waited and waited as we tried to make out what Adriaan
was saying and I began to get nervous. This was it. Soon we were called out
again and we had to walk individually, this time really slowly and ethereally.
I had underestimated the ability to walk in my dress; it was quite long and I
kept stepping on it, so I had to pull it up as I walked as I didn’t want to
accidentally rip it. That was a shame; I concentrated too much on not tripping
that I didn’t focus more on eye contact with the audience and judges. Fun fact:
when walking the ramp, you are not supposed
to look down, you’re supposed to keep your head up and look straight ahead. Back
backstage, nerves were wrought. Most of us had forgetter the correct walking
routines that we just winged it, which was okay as Bianca suggested that in
case we forgot and people were not smiling. “I almost fell!”, “I forgot my
walk!”, “that wasn’t good.” Not to add in how tired we were of smiling. Smiling
so widely is really hard especially if you’re nervous. The corners of your
mouth start twitching really horribly (you look like you’re being electrocuted),
your facial muscles hurt and your mouth becomes dry. If you’ve never been in a
pageant before, now you know what smiling is like. It’s not great.
After the last of us walked (Xolisile was after me), we
passed around good lucks, as we remembered that actually, this is a competition
and we were competing against each other. We waited, not talking or smiling as
I said a prayer after a prayer. I knew who was the most likely to win, if I
don’t haha (I was right, it seems). Adriaan then announced that he was about to
announce the Top 5 and the nerves flared up. The tension in the room was
palpable but luckily we didn’t have to wait longer. The top 5 were announced as
they left the dressing room to stand on stage. At first I was confused, is this
Top 5 for the talent section? Because they called everyone in the talent Top
5…at least it seemed so until I realized Christi was called instead of Chanika.
I looked up at Alexis’ sister (who basically acted as a moderator for us,
telling us when it’s time to go on stage or what’s happening out there). She
told us that it was over and I remember the feeling of that moment; my heart
fell and as I looked around the room at the remaining girls, their faces were
painted a vivid colour of disappointment. This was it. It was over.
I still wanted to know who got crowned which title and since
I couldn’t see, Chanel, who was at the door, relayed to us what was happening.
Elzane got crowned Best Talent, Christi got crowned Miss Photogenic. Elrie got
crowned 2nd Princess and Christi 1st Princess. Elzane
then got crowned the current Miss Deaf SA 2014. (darn it, why didn’t I take
bets because she’s who I thought would take the crown). Now, I don’t know
whether that was before she got crowned or after but my name was called for…
Miss Personality. I remember being very shocked and so grateful at the same
time. I didn’t expect to win Miss Personality, especially since I was so shy
and quiet during the first days. I was told to walk down the ramp which I did
so ungracefully of course, because I kept stepping on my dress.
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| Walking the ramp |
I went back into the dressing room to shout profuse thank
yous to whoever voted for me and at that point I teared up. I’m still shocked
because now I have two Miss Personality titles from this year and 2011. I was
told to go back on stage to pose for photos and this is when things weren’t
really good. The stage catwalk was small and only fit three people (guess who)
whose pictures were being taken and it was just so awkward for me standing
behind them, poking my head up here and there like a photobomber. No one tried
to accommodate me to fit for the photos so I just went in the dressing room and
took off my evening dress and putting on casual clothes. I packed everything
and waited for everyone to finish taking photos. This is why I have no photos
of myself wearing my crown and sash with my evening dress.
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| And the winner is... |
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| 1st Princess, Christi! |
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| Blurry selfie with the reigning queen (my phone sucks). |
It was almost 2am when we arrived and I finished packing my
bags so I wouldn’t forget anything the next day when I was due to leave (but I
forgot a limited edition coin there that is probably worth something smh). I
said my goodnights to Elzane and clambered into bed, exhausted. Sleep took me
under soon after.
Stay tuned for Sunday’s diary!
‘Til next time
-Bella
