Lula Gezu wins Miss World Ethiopia 2009

Addis Ababa, August 18, 2009 -- The “Miss World Ethiopia” contest was held on August 15th, 2009, at the Hilton Hotel in Addis Ababa. The beauty pageant and gala dinner started around 7:00pm local time. The contest was organized by Artaele Enterprise, and it was the seventh of its kind and the third for Artaele Enterprise. The pageant was conducted with the motto of “Beauty with purpose”.

Twenty Five contestants participated in this event. At the beginning of the competition the contestants came out in swimming suits, followed with traditional and evening dresses. They were judged on catwalk, self expression, and their knowledge of their country and its resources, as well as on things like the environment and globalization.




The four judges who were selected for the competition were not informed about their responsibilities a priori, but were simply invited for the event. As per the organizers, this arrangement makes the competition fair and objective. The four judges of the “Miss word Ethiopia 2009” came from different backgrounds and experience, and among them were beauty expert, traditional cloth designer, culture and tourism public relations officer, and an investor.

Among the contestants, six of them came from Harar, Dire Dawa, Bahir Dar, and Mekele. Out of the 25 contestants, 12 of them passed to the next stage based on interview results and their confidence. Then, from the 12 contestants, six were selected as finalists for the top five positions, as two contestants got the same points and were tied.

The final competition among the six contestants was a little tough because each of them were required to promote themselves, their country, and explain why they should be “Miss world Ethiopia 2009” in only one minute. After the judges passed their decisions, the last three finalists were announced by program host, around 11:50pm (local time).

After all was said and done, Lensa Tilahun, the 1.93m tall, elegant girl from Oromiya, became the 2nd runner up, and Hiwot Assefa, the 1.78m tall girl with a slim body and charming face from Addis Ababa, became the 1st runner up. The crown of “Miss World Ethiopia 2009” was awarded to Lula Gezu (1.77m tall, 56 kg), a sophomore psychology student at Mekele University from Addis Ababa, a chocolate color and charming girl with high confidence. She received the crown for “Miss World Ethiopia 2009”.

Lula Gezu was awarded a Diamond ring worth 60,000 ETB from Zoskales Dimond. The award was handed over by Ato Neway GebreAb, Senior Economic Advisor to Prime Minster Meles Zenawi. Both the 1st and 2nd runner ups were also awarded a Diamond ring worth about ETB 50,000.

It is to be recalled that the organizers invited contestants for the competition only a few weeks back through various media outlets. The twenty five contestants got training on choreography and catwalk for only two weeks. This lack of sufficient training and experience was evident by the contestants’ shyness, lack of confidence, less than optimal presentation, and lack of general knowledge. Some of them were very shy to the point of giving inaudible answers, and inability to understand or answer questions properly.

In an exclusive interview with Ezega.com, the winner of Miss World Ethiopia 2009, Lula Gezu, said that she is very happy with the competition. She believes that she prevailed over the other contestants by her confidence and the way she answered the questions, in addition to her external beauty.

Ezega News asked Lula if she is satisfied with the training she received in the last fifteen days. Lula answered, “this is my second competition as I have been the 1st runner up of “Miss World Ethiopia 2007”. So, it was not that hard for me. But, for many new comers to the competition, it could have been very difficult indeed with such a short training.”

Luna Gezu will go to London, as well as contest in South Africa in December 2009, representing Ethiopia against contestants from 120 other countries.

The 1st runner up, Hiwot Assefa, will contest for the title of “Miss Intercontinental” in Belarus in September 2009. Hiwot told Ezega News that she is happy with the competition and the final results. Though she is inclined more towards modeling, she enjoyed the completion very much.

The upcoming Miss World contest will be televised live worldwide in more that 190 countries and with expected viewers of more than 3 billion. According to Artaele Enterprise Managing Director, Ato Tesfazghi Aberra, who talked to Ezega News, this competition will have a big impact by projecting a positive image of Ethiopia to the world. In addition, it will create a great opportunity for us by promoting the Ethiopian culture, tourism, values and customs, and present the country of Lucy, Queen of Sheba, and the cradle of mankind.