Behind the scenes with big race at Montecasino

It was ready, steady, go at Montecasino this month when Hot FM’s DJs and behind-the-scenes team, along with a group of media, were invited to complete an Italianinspired race through the streets, restaurants, bars and entertainment areas across the precinct.

“We wanted to share Montecasino in a way it has never been seen before – and to challenge our radio and media partners to step out of their comfort zone, unleash their competitive spirit and have tons of fun,” says new general manager of Montecasino, Mike Page.

“Montecasino continues to live up to its reputation as Gauteng’s premier entertainment destination and it’s a reputation we are very proud to uphold. But rather than telling our guests from Hot FM and the media about it we decided to show them – by taking them into the streets, hotels, bars and restaurants of our Tuscan village. They covered a lot of ground and experienced the Italian flavour of Montecasino.”

With pitstops that challenged a variety of talents in the competitors – including singing, cooking, painting, latté art and beer-tasting – the contestants were taken into places many had not seen before and some areas traditionally not exposed to the public eye.

“It was such a unique opportunity to see what goes into an operation like Montecasino – all the way from back-of-house to front,” said Lloyd Loots, entertainment blogger.

In true Montecasino style, there were many winners on the day, including prizes for hottest barista (won by Bulelani Mfebe), hottest operatic talent (won by Kwanele Kunene), best Italian accent (won by Sasha Martenengo), hottest artist (won by Raymond Cornwell, Hot FM winner) and the best social media posts of the day (won by Awande Dlamini and Gladys Sithole).

The winning team was the White Team, who each won a night out for two from Montecasino, while the winner in the slots competition was Wayne Pringle, aka Beefy, and in the tables mini knockout tournament was Jenna Dawes, who both won a one-night stay at Montecasino.

Deon Basson, Montecasino’s casino brand manager, said: “We were inspired to create this event by our current gaming promotion, Viva Italia, in which we’re giving away 12 Fiats in 12 weeks.

“We’ve already given away five cars.”

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