Zara
TV3‘s Ghana Most Beautiful pageant is facing criticisms for evicting a Northern Region representative, Zara Sulemana, ahead of crowning a new queen.
On Sunday, 23-year-old Ekua Mends Bannerman, who represented the Central Region, beat others to win the 2019 edition of the pageant after 13 weeks of competition fused with entertainment and education.
Volta Region’s Enam took home the second prize, including a cash prize of GH¢8,000, a round trip to Dubai and six months supply of GTP fabric, while Serwaa from the Ashanti Region, who was evicted but got a second chance, eventually won third place.
But after the crowning ceremony, some ardent followers of the pageant who thought organisers didn’t handle evictions on the show properly have come out to register their displeasure.
A long letter to TV3 in circulation from one Dadinkai Mohammed Tawfiq, who said he has monitored the show for a long time, described this year’s organisation as “unfair”.
He had issues with two contestants who were brought back into the show after facing eviction earlier and the subsequent eviction of Zara.
“For lack of a better word, I would say it is unfortunate that the organizing committee brought back two contestants (from Ashanti and Ahafo regions) who were evicted earlier to join the race, with the notice that they were voted back in to the house which I strongly doubt…” he stated.
“Is TV3 being fair to all the contestants that are evicted from that date on if they don’t also get the chance to be voted back in to the house? Are we not encouraging and celebrating laziness here if a non -performing contestant is evicted, sent home for some weeks and later brought back in to the house to the disadvantage of those that have struggled from scratch to keep themselves in the competition?” he questioned.
“I do not want to toe the tangent that a particular contestant was unfairly treated, but I hate to conceal the truth. We were made to understand that voting took 70% while the effort of the contestant on stage alongside her conduct in the house took 30% of the judgement.
On the sad night Zara Sulemana (the Northern Regional representative) was evicted she led the voting chart with 12,538 votes.
Her performance was on live TV and the world could tell she did well on her stage craft and delivery, yet she was kicked out.”
“ Evicting Zara Sulemana on a night she was the most voted contestant simply downplays the assertion that voting takes 70% of the competition. Two contestants were evicted earlier in the competition, they were home for a number of weeks whiles their colleagues in the house stressed daily (energy loss), the public continually voted to make sure they stayed in the competition (economic loss), they didn’t have the opportunity to have personal contact with the general public after being sent in to the GMB house to appeal for votes and support, and all of the sudden, two contestants that enjoyed all the above at home are brought back in to the house to compete with them. If the organizers call this #fair I think they are using a different dictionary from the ones we all know,” he added.