MISS INDIA FIJI January 17th 2009 - Khatri Hall - Suva, Fiji| Press Release |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: http://www.missindiafiji.com Naziah Ali of Ba, Crowned Miss India Fiji 2009 Suva – January 18th 2009 – Naziah Ali of Ba was crowned the Finance Pacific’s Miss India Fiji Queen on Saturday January 17th 2009 at 10 pm at the Khatri Hall in Suva by the Grand Sponsor, Mr. Arveen Anand, CEO of Finance Pacific. She wins a round trip to Durban, South Africa and will represent Fiji at the Miss India Worldwide Beauty Pageant to be held on February 14th this year. The 1st Runner up is Avinta Madhukansh from Hayward, California, and the 2nd Runner up is Miss Sheetal Deo of Suva, Fiji. The concept behind the Miss India Fiji Pageant was the inspirational work of Ranjit Raju, President of www.IndoFiji.com, the world's first and largest website connecting Fiji Indians worldwide on the internet. Ranjit Raju has been involved in the entertainment industry in the San Francisco Bay Area for the last 13 years and has been very active in the Fijian community there. As a result of Ranjit's experience and involvement in the Indo-Fijian community, he was appointed the National Director (Fiji) for the Miss India Worldwide Pageant by Mr. Dharmatma Saran, President of the India Festival Committee, New York. The Miss India Worldwide Pageant is produced by the IFC and is known as "the glamorous Indian function in the world". The winner of the Miss India Fiji Pageant will get tremendous media exposure and the opportunity of a lifetime to represent Fiji in the globally established Miss India Worldwide Pageant. Contestants from over 25 countries participate in this event. It is an amazing experience for each of the participants. After successfully hosting the pageant in the USA for 3 years, it was decided to bring the pageant to Fiji to give the locals an opportunity to participate. The Miss India Fiji Pageant is intended to provide entertainment and enlightenment about Indo-Fijian arts and culture to the audience; benefits and opportunities for the contestants; and an annual worldwide event for the participation of the Indo-Fijian Community. The contestants in the pageant are of Indo-Fijian origin, between the ages of 17 and 27, never married, and are citizens, residents, or born in Fiji. The pageant consists of four segments – Traditional Indian, Fiji Island Round, Talent and a Question & Answer session. They are required to introduce themselves on stage, make a Flood appeal and perform their talents before advancing to the final round of the top 5 contestants who will then progress to the Final Q&A round. The first audition was held on Friday December 12th 2009 at Minaxi Hot Snax in Lautoka. The second audition was on Saturday December 6th in Ba at Reuban's Restaurant followed by Tavua Hotel. The Auditions continued on Monday in Suva at Jody's (MHCC), Tuesday in Sigatoka at Go Kools, Wednesday in Nadi at Dr Raju's Café, Thursday back in Lautoka at Minaxi Hot Snax. The trainings started on Thursday January 15th in Suva. The contestants had 2 days of intense grooming, training and choreography by Ranjit Raju. The final excitement culminated on Saturday January 17th. The audience started lining up for the doors to open at 5pm. The show started at 7pm with the Diya lighting ceremony by Mr and Mrs Raja Kumaran of New India Assurance. This was followed by the Indian and the Fijian national anthems. The hosts of the night were the exuberant Mr. Karunesh Rao and the beautiful Miss Poonam Anand. This was a night to be remembered, 12 beautiful contestants, 3 exciting rounds – Traditional Indian, Fiji Island Round followed by their individual talents. After the sub-contest crowning the Top 5 contestants were called on stage and they then answered questions. The audience was dazzled with the venue, the stage, the lights, the sounds and the production. The crowning atmosphere was tense as the selection process was extremely demanding but the judges did a superb job given the highly talented contestants. Judges for the Main Event were Mrs Sadhna Rambisessar, Mr Champak Patel, Ms Lata Kumar, Mr Jason Chandra & Mrs Menaka Fareed. The 14 contestants for the pageant included Alvin Lata (Suva), Avinta Madhukansh (Hayward, USA), Namrata Nikita Devi (Navua), Nandni Chand (Suva), Naziah Ali (Ba), Priyashna Singh (Nadi), Retasha Nandini Nunnink (Savusavu), Rimita Mishra (San Jose, USA), Ronshal Prasad (Suva), Shaleshma Malini Singh (Lautoka), Sheetal Deo (Suva), Shivanjani Mani Naidu (Nasinu), Sweta Nand (Christchurch, NZ), and Veena Vikashni Chandra (Labasa). The event was supposed to have 14 contestants but due to travel difficulties from the flood-hit Western Division, two of the contestants, Priyashna Singh and Shaleshma Malini Singh, could not participate. Complete list of winners: Miss India Fiji 2009 – Naziah Ali, 1st Runner Up – Avinta Madhukansh, 2nd Runner Up – Sheetal Deo. Top 5 Finalists: Naziah Ali, Avinta Madhukansh, Sheetal Deo, Sweta Nand and Alvin Lata. Winners of the Sub contest rounds were: Miss Personality – Alvin Lata, Miss Photogenic – Avinta Madhukansh, Best Smile – Sweta Nand, Best Eyes – Sheetal Deo, Best Hair – Naziah Ali, Best Skin – Namrata Devi and Best Catwalk – Sweta Nand. This event would not have been possible without the support of our sponsors. The Grand Sponsor for the event was Mr Arveen Anand, CEO of Finance. The General Sponsors were V.T. Solutions, Nivis Motors, Xoolu Enterprise Limited, Creative Arts Design and Lights and Sounds. The local Radio Stations, newspapers, TV Stations and websites all supported the event. For a complete list of sponsors and media support, please visit the website – www.missindiafiji.com Miss India Fiji Team consisted of Ranjit Raju, Nivriti Karan, Karunesh Rao, Poonam Anand, Suresh Naidu, Neil Pillai, Sunita Ram, Krishna Bhan, Jess Narayan, Bitesh Naidu, Deepak Singh, Dr Rajnil Kumar and Karishma Kumar. Additional Sound System was provided by Raj and Taj, Lighting by Ravi Nair from Lights Sounds, Stage Deco by Deepak Dilsara, Flowers by Tandra Flowers, Sashes by Xoolu Designs, Banners/Posters by Manish from Creative Arts and Makeup by Nutrimetics. The Miss India Fiji organization will continue to be active in fashion and pageantry business. In addition, the organization is planning to be involved in modeling workshops, fashion shows, beauty pageants, photo shoots, and music videos in the near future. As part of the Flood Relief efforts, Mr Dharmesh Parikh, the National Director of the Miss India New Zealand Pageant, Arveen Anand, CEO Finance Pacific and Mr Anirudh Diwakara of Radio Sargam got on the mic to do a Flood Appeal. We were able to raise $905 cash and $2000 worth of clothes at the event. Here is the total list of donors: • Rajni Narayan (Online Donation from Australia) - US$100 – F$180 What makes Miss India Fiji Pageant different from other such organizations is they are committed to support various charity bodies particularly those focused on children and education. The Miss India Fiji event is here to stay. Aspirant contestants and sponsors can contact their head office via email – www.missindiafiji.com or phone 929-9240. For information visit: http://www.missindiafiji.com |