The much talked about Miss Sierra Leone 2012 Beauty Pageant organized by Lion Mountain Production, The Gambia, was held on 16th June 2012 (The Day of the African Child) at the Suns-wing Hotel Resort formerly Jaama Beach Hotel in Senegambia The Gambia. It ended with Miss Bombali (photo) emerging as the new Miss Sierra Leone 2012 (Miss Salone 2012). This event has always been part of the Sierra Leone Independence celebrations organized by Lion Mountain Production for the Sierra Leonean community in The Gambia.
Miss Bombali – Sophia Byass cum Miss Salone 2012 (19) is a High School Graduate from SOS Senior High School in The Gambia. She told the audience that she wants to become a lawyer in the future. She has a masterpiece command of the English language which has been part of her as she grew up among educated parents. Her father is a teacher and English is mostly spoken at home. She possesses an appealing motion, cute, lovely and talent. She is a talented singer and rapper, which she demonstrated to the audience. She mesmerized the audience with her rap talent, beauty, confidence, smiles and styles. In fact the crowded hall announced her name as winner before the judges did.
The first runner up was Miss Bo – Edna Carney (19). She is a tall, pretty and talented young lady full of charismatic values. She showcased talent in playing the piano, which moved the entire jam-packed hall when she thrilled the audience with the Sierra Leone national Anthem. This moment took the audience by storm as happy Sierra Leoneans were all singing while she played on.
The second runner up also went to Miss Freetown – Yeama Dorance Palmer (19). She is of average height and possesses natural looks which mesmerized the judges; her cat-walking, body contours and body language were appealing and captivating, her broad smiles and talents had proved beyond all reasonable doubt that she is a would-be international model in the future. She had been into pageantry for a while and has won some prizes in beauty pageants in Banjul. She is also a talented dancer.
What makes the Miss Sierra Leone – The Gambia 2012 a success and unique was the fact that the contestants were representing the 12 districts of Sierra Leone and the capital city Freetown. This year, there were 10 contestants representing the capital Freetown and 9 districts of Sierra Leone and 3 withdrew.
The Contestants for 2012 are as follows:-
Yeama Dorance Palmer - Miss Freetown
Jariatu Kamara - Miss Port Loko
Rugiatu Sesay – Miss Moyamba
Sophia Byass - Miss Bombali
Mariama Bangura - Miss Kambia
Edna Carney - Miss Bo
Genevive Emma Natatia Bangura - Miss Kenema
Monica Fatiaya Kpange – Miss Kono
Aminata Bongay - Miss Kailahun
As usual the stage was opened with Muslim and Christian prayers and stage performance by the Freetown Players International – The Gambia, with dazzling melodious songs which depicted the historical background from the pre colonial, post colonial, on to the conflict/post conflict era, and also to the present political era.
The first appearance of the pageantry started with the introduction on stage of the ten contestants to showcase their culture and tradition from the various districts they represented and this was done in a cultural and traditional dress fashion with music. Most exciting was that each of the contestants had to give a brief historical background of the district they represented and after which they all performed in a group dance. This was followed by the next appearance on stage for posing and cat-walking with casual dress (this includes black jeans and the main sponsors T-Shirt (Gamcel Network Service Provider Company).
The contest became very thrilling in the second appearance, which is to express inner beauty with talent explosion. All other contestants have also proved their talents beyond all reasonable doubt that they have something they possess and they also have something to give out. They showcased their talents ranging from Poetry/Poem, Singing, Playing Piano, Dancing, and Jokes etc. There is a great belief that these pretty young ladies possess talents and all of them are winners.
Miss Salone 2012 is an exponent of talents and edutainment and this has serve our memories right demonstrated that ‘Sierra Leoneans got talents’ should be emulated in the future as this year’s event had been an indelible mark in the minds of Sierra Leoneans presently based in The Gambia.
The contest became very exciting when the contestants made their third appearance on the stage with their beach wear. It was very thrilling to see these beautiful young ladies with their God-givien structures and their pretty shapes.
The contest reached its peak when the contestants made fourth and final appearance on stage for the ‘Africana Evening outfits. At this juncture, each contestant showcased their talent on the ‘cat-walking’ and ‘posing’ category, after which, each of them had to pose and responding to Miss Yeatie French – (Actress and presenter) the officiating assistant MC for the questions and answers time on the history of Sierra Leone, state of current affairs and national interest. At this juncture, the panel of judges collated all records that satisfied their ability during a short break to file in their results as far as beauty pageant is concerned in an international standard.
At the end of each event, there was an interlude of entertainment.
There was a marvelous performance by the Black Leo group who shuttled into The Gambia via Senegal from Freetown, Sierra Leone. There was also a very good performance of
De-Judges dancers who thrilled the audience to reflect back home the days of the ‘Discorama’, Double Tee dancers, Lady Vic and Lady Vivat, the young survival dancers, The Gambia best reggae artist Egalitarian also thrilled a cross-section of Sierra-Gambian community in the jam-packed hall. The hall busted to ecstasy when the group called De Movement Of the Body (MOB) took the podium to give a powerful performance, which served them with a standing ovation by the audience.
The hall became over thrilled and overwhelmed when Freetong Playas Dance Troupe Company took the podium to give their own slice of the cake with a very powerful traditional performance with the Gorboi, Bondo devil, Nafale, Mamma Para or stick man performance to recall memories of the Sierra Leone Dance Troupe. The event night was full of education and entertainment (edutainment).
According to the chairman of Lion Mountain Alieu Kallay ‘Gifted’ Koroma, “this is the best Miss Sierra Leone that has ever been staged in The Gambia,” because proceeds from this event will be used as scholarship package to sponsor ten Sierra Leonean children in their junior schooling.
The program’s main sponsor was Gamcel Service network Provider Company and associate sponsor are Net Page IT Solutions. The events was opened with prayers in both Islam and Christianity and certificates were given to prominent Sierra Leoneans presently based in The Gambia who have in one way or the other contributed to the Sierra Leonean community and Gambians alike (Mr. Femi Williams, Lawrence King, Mrs. Charmaine Kuti-George, Tiger Watch security Agency, Hamidu Mansaray of Bajito Onda Africa and Mr. Foday Papifo of Xtrim Screen, Gamcel network provider Company and Roots fitness Centre, Saloons such as E’bais saloon, Vicky saloon, Ndumbeh saloon etc and Fashion Designers and Tailoring shops such as Yeama Lamin, Daniel Shyllon, Ya Ida Adu Lette-sy, Onixson).
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