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Naa Okailey Shooter crowned Miss Ghana 2012

By Myjoyonline.com | Richard Nii Abbey
General News Naa Okailey Shooter, Miss Ghana 2012 flanked by runners-up, and MCs for the night. Photo: David Andoh
NOV 11, 2012 LISTEN
Naa Okailey Shooter, Miss Ghana 2012 flanked by runners-up, and MCs for the night. Photo: David Andoh

Miss Naa Okailey Shooter, a 22-year-old medical student of the University of Ghana used her wits and intelligence to beat other 17 ladies to win the coveted Miss Ghana 2012 beauty pageant held Saturday at the Accra International Conference Centre.

After a hotly contested pageant, Miss Shooter's close competitors were 23-year-old Nadia Ntanu and 22-year-old Jennifer Annan who took the second and third positions respectively.

This year's Miss Ghana, powered by Exclusive Events, bounces back after a year's absence. Miss Shooter takes over the crown from Stephanie Karikari who won it in 2010.

For her impressive performance, Miss Shooter will also take home a brand new Hyundai Accent 2012 model plus a cash prize of GHc 3,000 and many other exciting prizes.

She would also get the opportunity to represent Ghana at the Miss World competition next year.

The Miss Ghana 2012 beauty pageant did not commence as organizers would want it, starting on a rather slow pace, a reason that could be attributed for the programme closing at 3:30am rather than the 10:40pm initially reported.

The MCs for the event were Ghana's ace, Kwesi Kyei Darkwah (KKD) and screen goddess, Anita Erskine who steered the programme in characteristic fine manner throughout the night till the early morning of Sunday.

Save for the talents display by contestants which really lacked real “talent”, other segments of the Miss Ghana 2012 edition were just fine. Most of the 18 contestants who took part in the talents display segment for a good length of time failed to impress the audience with their not too exceptional display.

The nightmare of the contestants was to linger a little longer in the Q&A segment where it appeared that some of the questions being posed by the judges could have been asked in another fashion. It was no surprised that here, some of the ladies fumbled with their answers.

After a topsy turvy Q&A, ten finalists got the nod to progress to the next stage of the competition where their next task was to select a societal issue and attempt convincing the judges and the audience. This ten included Naa Okailey, Roseline,Biley, Nadia, Precious, Gifty, Oforiwaa, Martha, Jennifer and Afriyie.

After this round, the number was further cut down to five, who were then billed to take part in the make or break segment to decide who will be crowned the most beautiful lady in Ghana. It seemed all the five who made it to this stage, had difficulties responding to their questions.

Clearly it was Naa Okailey whose answer, out of the lot was most suited to what the judges were looking for hence it was not a surprise she emerged the ultimate winner.

Controversies
With barely three weeks to the Miss Ghana event, two finalists of this year's Miss Ghana beauty pageant left the competition citing personal reasons.

The two, Emelia Ainooson a 20-year-old student of the Ghana Institute of Journalism and Dzifa Delloh of the University of Ghana, Legon were therefore not part of the grand finale held Saturday.

The withdrawal of the two reduced the number of contestants to eighteen at a time the organizers could not afford to replace them.


Nigerian comedian, Basketmouth showed why he is one of Africa's finest as he treated the audience to rib-cracking jokes that left them yearning for more of the same. His performance was one of the brightest spots on the night overshadowing some organizational hiccups.

Ghanaian songstress Efya's performance was not overly impressive considering the benchmark she had established for herself. This time round, she could not readily connect with her audience as she has done on previous occasions.

As for Gyedu Blay Ambolley, perhaps he should have heeded to the adage “you exit the stage when the applause is loudest”. The self proclaim originator of rap music in Ghana however failed to do just that as his performance lasted longer than usual leading to most patrons exiting the auditorium to register their displeasure at his performance.

Then comes in the headline act, Nigerian award winning international act, Asa. To say she was marvelous on the night was an understatement. In fact, Asa, performing in Ghana for the first time clad in simple white apparel sent the audience agog as she rendered some of her numerous hit tunes.

She started her performance with her track Fire on the Mountain and crowned it with Jailer which literally sent the audience mad. The audience could not simply have enough of her, particularly her modified Azonto skills.

Asa indeed capped a fine night for the Miss Ghana 2012 which is the first to have been organized in two years due to some organizational constraints in the previous year.

Special Awards
Special awards were also given to contestants who displayed exceptional skills either on the day of the pageant or throughout their camping period.

Most Beautiful Talent
Abena Appiah
Miss Congeniality
Biley Sung La-Bou
Miss Photogenic
Precious Kyei Bonsu
Miss Top Model
Naa Okailey Shooter
Miss Eloquence
Naa Okailey Shooter
SMS Queen
Roseline Okoro
Miss Fitness
Joan Ahiawordor
Most Discipline
Sabina Aryee
Most Beautiful Skin
Jennifer Annan

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