Palesa in the exclusive Top 40
Only the top 40 will jet off to Puerto Rico on March 12
Miss Botswana 2021, Palesa Molefe is slated to join 39 other beauty queens at the much anticipated finals of the Miss World 2021. The final which was postponed in December 2021, is booked for March 16th at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum of Puerto Rico. Only 40 contestants will return to the rescheduled finale of the oldest beauty pageants in the world. The 2021 edition of the pageant had attracted participation from 97 countries.
However, information gathered is that all the 97 Miss World 2021 contestants will be featured on the live broadcast of the 70th Miss World crowning event. The programme this time around is very short as most of the work has already been done in December.
The finalist will arrive on March 12th in Puerto Rico, and will go straight into a boot camp. While the
final will take place on March 16th, the last activity will be a Beauty with a Purpose Special Event on March 17th.
The contestants will return home on March 18th. The latest developments regarding the pageant were recently announced by the organisers of Miss World. Out of the Top 40, 15 contestants are from Fast Track Events, and they consist of the following: Miss Kenya, Miss Phillippines, Miss South Africa, Miss India, Miss England and Miss USA all from Beauty with a Purpose Fast Track event; Miss Paraguay, Miss Cameroon, Miss Nepal, Miss Venezuela, Miss Nicaragua, and Miss Botswana proceeded through the Head to Head challenge.
Other fast track events winners include Miss Mexico ( Sports), and Miss Mongolia ( Talent) as well as one of the hottest African queens at the pageant, Miss Côte d’Ivoire who secured her place after winning the Top Model fast track event. She also happens to have clinched wins in the Head to Head and Multi Media
events making her one of the favourites at the finals. Seeing her profile, she might possibly make it to the Top 16, and even go as far at the Top 3.
Besides the gorgeous Miss Cameroon, Miss Botswana is another hopeful who has been making the right noise, and that will go a long way in getting her closer to the crown. An eloquent, and ball of energy that lights up a room anytime, Molefe has that thing that magnetically pulled all of the queens during her stay at Puerto Rico closer to her. She was that fire that made the back to back schedule seem like a walk in the park, and might also walk off with the Miss Personality award at the final. Molefe and Miss Cameroon form part of the eight African queens who are at the finals, and they are Miss Somalia, Miss Guinea, Miss Kenya, Miss Côte d’Ivoire, Miss Madagascar and Miss South Africa.
One of the unique queens at the pageant happens to be Miss Somalia. Amazingly, this is the first time that the East African nation is making its
presence at the pageant.
Represented by the stunningly beautiful Khadija Omar, tipped as the first Hijabi contestant to represent her home country. The 20 year- old is a professional make- up artist and a psychology major at York University, Canada.
Meanwhile, the rest of the contestants who form the Top 40 are from Judges’ Choices and include Miss Poland, Miss Hungary, Miss Puerto Rico, Miss Colombia, Miss Czech Republic, Miss Norther Ireland, Miss France, Miss Ecuador, Miss Guinea, Miss Bahamas, Miss Malaysia, Miss Brazil, Miss Madagascar, Miss Indonesia, Miss Trinidad & Tobaco, Miss Argentina, Miss Canada, Miss Dominican Republic, Miss Ireland, Miss Somalia, Miss Chile, Miss China, Miss Sri Lanka, Miss Vietnam as well as Miss Icelands.
In other news, it remains to be seen whether Miss World 2019, Toni- Ann Singh from Jamaica who was crowned the 69th Miss World in London, will crown an African as the 70th Miss World. So far, the last time that the continent won the title was in 2014 by South Africa’s Rolene Straus. Botswana’s Emma Wareus came close in 2010, walking off as the First Princess. Other queens from the continent include Agbani Darego ( Nigeria) in 2010, Anneline Kriel ( South Africa) in 1974, and Penelope Coelen ( Miss South Africa) in 1958 as well as Antigone Costanda ( Miss Egypt) in 1954.
In a statement released a few days ago, Julia Morley, who is the Director of Miss World thanked all of the 97 countries that contributed so much to this year’s event.
“We are sad that you cannot all return for the finale, but we really hope that every country will join us online on March 16th,” reads the statement.
The broadcast of the 70th Miss World Finale, will air 8pm - 11pm ET on March 16th, live from the Coliseo De Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot.