Miss World Talent Show has two winners

Miss World Talent Show has two winners

In an unprecedented move, the six judges of the 2009 Miss World Talent show held at the Victory Theatre, yesterday, made two ladies joint-winners- securing them each a spot in the finale

Miss Yanbing Ma (Canada), who performed an Opera piece and Miss Mariatu Kargbo (Sierra Leone) a traditional dance, scored points for the December 12 event to be held at the Gallagher Convention Centre.

"I feel very proud, of course. It's a good way to inspire under-privileged people with our talent," Kargbo said.

"I'm very excited and proud. I don’t think my country has ever had a talent winner, so I’m very happy to be able to show some of my talent," said a beaming Ma.

The two ladies will again showcase their respective talents in front of an audience of over a billion during the final evening.

Musical Director for this year's pageant, Mike Dixon, who also choreographed the Princess Diana concert in Wembley, and "We will rock you", spoke glowingly about the organisation of the show.

"This has been a really impressive afternoon, especially from the girls, who improved dramatically during the rehearsals.

"If Simon Cowell thinks his bunch is special, then we've just showed that Miss World has also a talented bunch of ladies with a purpose," added Dixon, who's worked on 16 previous Miss World pageants.

While the judges, among them designer J.J Schoeman, were huddled to decide the winner, the cast of Umoja gave a colourful 10-minute show.

"We're having a wonderful time; it's been a week already. It's an opportunity for the ladies to learn about each other's cultures," Miss South Africa Tatum Keshwar said.

Korea's Joo Ri Kim (2nd), Norway's Sara Skjoldnes (3rd), and Australia's Sophie Lavers (4th) also shared the stage with the winners.

The ladies will be in Durban today (Monday) for the bikini contest, where another will secure a spot in the top 15.

Johannesburg Tourism Company's Lindiwe Mahlangu, who was also part of the judging panel: "Africa's time, and especially Johannesburg, has come. We are really proud, but also ready to host more events of this magnitude."

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