ANDHY BLAKE:

THE MAN BEHIND

This year will mark Fiji’s 6th time competing for Miss World, the largest and oldest beauty contest in the World. The Miss World Fiji contest is scheduled for May 7th at The Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva where ten finalists will compete to represent Fiji on the Miss World stage. The man responsible for selecting finalists, training them for stage, finalising wardrobes, producing the contest and preparing Miss Fiji for the international Miss World competition is FBC TV producer and presenter, Andhy Blake. Mr Blake acquired the Miss World licence for Fiji in 2011 when he worked alongside the Miss World New Zealand organisation and moved to Fiji in 2012 to begin the Miss World Fiji contest. “I was always fascinated with the Miss World contest since age five and remember watching each year, memorising the title holders,” he said. “It was the beauty of the women and stage productions that captured my attention. “It was always my vision to be affiliated to such an organisation as Miss World and now I have fulfilled that goal.”

Before moving back to Fiji in 2012, Mr Blake worked as a stylist and fashion show producer in New Zealand for 13 years. Some of the shows he has pro- duced and worked on includes New Zealand Fashion Week as Assistant Producer, Style Christchurch as Producer, Cult Couture Fashion Awards as a stylist and he was invited to be part of America’s Next Top Model, cycle 14 in 2010. “Fashion and pageantry has always been my background and with my past experiences, I am blessed to be working with FBC TV and producing Jejemon, Fiji’s first fashion TV show,” he said. Mr Blake is the producer and host of the popular Jejemon show that airs on FBC TV every Thursday at 7pm.

Jejemon is Fiji’s first fashion and lifestyle show that also features international travel.

It profiles local and international fashion events, designers, models, celebrities and stylists. “With FBC TV and Jejemon, I have been very privileged to travel the world. I have worked in Bali and Jakarta in Indonesia, Sydney, Wellington, Hong Kong, Sanya in Chi- na, Los Angeles, London, Paris and Toulouse in France and traveling to Singapore next week for work.” The Fiji Broadcasting Corporation is officially managing Miss World Fiji while The Grand Pacific Hotel is the official host partner Fiji Airways is the official airline partner and The Fiji Sun is the official print media partner.