Bahrain: Beauty Pageant Contestants Dazzle at Kudlotsava - 09
Media update by Joe Andrade
Bahrain, May 17: The scintillating music rocked!... the colourful pyrotechnic stage dazzled !..the contestants each in their ever-best attire romped! This in a nutshell was Kudlotsava 2009 Beauty Pageant that was staged on a grand gala mega evening one-of-a-kind stage on Thursday, 14th May, 2009. The Kudlotsava 2009 Beauty Contest brought forth over 90 contestants, children, teenagers and adults, from a cross-section of the Kudla belt decked in their best colourful attire on stage in a terrific up-beat spirited contest! All of them vying for the Prince, Princess, Teen Queen, Teen King and the last but not least mother of all honours contest, Mr. & Miss Mangalore Kudlotsava 2009!!! Wow…..and even more, as a befitting finale in conclusion the entire lock stock of contestants from tiny tots to the elderly paraded and presented themselves in a majestic stage presentation snapshot on a unique T-ramp that was dazzling at its technological best to lo and behold before the august mesmerized audience, just before the prizes were awarded!! All this happening under the banner of Kudlotsava 2009 variety of programmes being held over a period of one month at the ideal ambience of the Delmon International Hotel Poolside!
A lot of hard work has gone worthily behind all the dazzle that could be seen of the Pageant stage that was aptly designed and set up by Colorgate. The reverberating music that resonated throughout the program and rocked the stage got immense praise appreciation from the audience and was from the expert hands of Bahrain’s famous, DJ Avi.
The program took-off with Joe Andrade welcoming the audience on behalf of the President and Executive Committee members of THE MANGALORE CULTURAL & CHARITABLE ASSOCIATION. The entire team of Excom members presented themselves on stage lead by the ever-smiling General Secretary Mr. Navin Mendonca to welcome and declare the Pageant open. The President, Mr. Anand Lobo then introduced them all and invited the Chief Guest of the evening Dr. Mrs Badriya Fakrawi to the podium and delivered the Presidential address. The Chief Guest, Dr. Fakhrawi addressed the gathering. The stage was then handed over to the Master compere Mr. Anand Lobo who took off with the Beauty Pageant in his inimitable style commencing with the Prince and Princess Contest for age groups 6 to 13 years along with Ms. Veda Mohan, Radio Jockey of FM Bangalore fame. The Prince Contest brought forth 7 contenders whereas the Princess, 29 contestants in the age group 14 to 18. This was followed by the Teen Queen Contest with 11 participants and there were 10 of them for the coveted crown of Teen King. The mother of all Contests, Mr. & Miss Mangalore Pageant saw 11 elderly couples on the ramp. Among the Mr. & Miss Mangalore contestants, it was worthy to note and behold two couples comprising a Mother and son and the other, Father and daughter!
The duo comperes, Mr. Lobo and Ms. Mohan kept had a field day of renditions with their enchanting dialect equally matching the pomp and gusto of the occasion, much to the chagrin, enthusiasm and exhilaration of the audience on an evening that had just the cool and colourful musical ambience. The applause in appreciation from the packed audience that had gathered added more nostalgia to the eventful happenings and all that was said by the comperes.
A delicious menu of snacks and the famous shawarma were up for grabs for a reasonable price and the spirits available boosted further the Kudlotsava spirits. The entrance to the program was complimentary to all enthusiasts. Walking on the ramp practice sessions were held earlier on 11th and 13th May at the Hotel in preparation for the day by two elegant and experienced choreographers, Ms. Shamima Noorani and Ms. Renuka, and was one of the criteria for the Pageant. Entry in the contests was free for all participants but exclusively for those hailing from Karnataka or Kudla belt. One other highlight of the evening was a Raffle draw that had attractive prizes on offer.
The winners of the various Kudlotsava 2009 Contests were as follows:
Princess category: (6 to 13 yrs)
I Place – Akanksha Shetty
II Place – Mrinalini Shetty
III Place – Sameeksha Shetty
Prince category: (6 to 13 yrs)
I Place - Ayush Arun Shetty
II Place - Mohamed Nehar
III Place – Sadiq Shafi
Teen Queen category: (14 to 18 yrs)
I Place – Prajvita P. Shetty
II Place – Sunena K.B. Shetty
III Place – Pooja Suresh
Teen King category: (14 to 18 yrs)
I Place – Malcolm D’Souza
II Place – Salman Mohamed Sayed
III Place – Enoch D’Souza
Mister & Miss Mangalore category: (Above 18 yrs)
I Place – Ajith & Archana Shetty
II Place – Jovita & Anson Sequeira
III Place – Sunil & Asthika Shetty
The Chief Guest Dr. Badriya along with various business representatives of organizations and Sponsors felicitated the winners with their respective title sashes and awards. The Winners took home with them valuable sponsored prizes, gift hampers and along with the others who contested as well as the audience, cherished memories of an evening to remember.
The Main Sponsor for the program is Ramee Group of Hotels. Other sponsors include Damas and the title Sponsor, Central Café.
The other Co-ordinators of the program were: Hema Shivakumar, Lolakshi Rajaram, Muriel Gomes, Sayyed Hejmadi, Shankar Jathanna, Girish Iddya and Ramesh among many others.
Kudlotsava 2009 is a month-long Sports and Cultural program to the likeness of Mangalorean or Karnataka tastes and is being organized for the third time by MANGALORE CULTURAL & CHARITABLE ASSOCIATION in association with DELMON INTERNATIONAL HOTEL, Bahrain. The next program is the Boogie Woogie Contest which will be held at the Ramada Palace Hotel on Friday the 22nd May, 2009. Watch out on these columns for further news and updates of the Mega Kudlotsava 2009 Festival of Programs and be there to witness the best of paraphernalia.
For further details Mr. Anand Lobo could be contacted on tel: 39401279.