Face of Africa: From Potential to Fame

In the African continent,  one search has led the way to a iconic, unforgettable African style for over a decade. Again, new session of the always-popular Face Of Africa hits the runway as M-Net re-launches it’s legendary cross-continental model talent search. CHINYERE OKOYE writes

At the enormity of what is still ahead, last year, striking 23-year-old Ghanaian, Kate Menson was discovered. The spectacular and dramatic M-Net Face of Africa 2008 finale, held at the Super Bowl in Sun City, South Africa, was where the fresh and dynamic beauty was chosen. After weeks of cross-continental searching, 18 young women were hand~picked as the 2008 Face of Africa finalists.

Kate discovered in Accra during a casting in the city earlier in the year, her progress in the season of M-Net’s Face of Africa has been a constant inspiration to viewers. Discovered  earlier in the month, Kate had auditioned for the search in 2006 but hadn’t qualified at the time because she needed to hone her talent and work on developing her physique.

Hard work, focus and dedication were rewarded as a thrilled Kate Menson was named the seventh and newest M-Net Face of Africa 2008. “Over time, this initiative has shown that it is about so much more than fashion and beauty. There is a bigger picture to see, something more than shoes, and cameras and clothing.

“It is about young women with so much courage that they will leave their homes to find new experiences, so much determination that they will venture into the unknown to discover themselves, so much passion that they will chase their dreams,” she said.
Speaking as M-Net prepares to screen a new expanded series, Africa Director Biola Alabi was clear on the project’s legacy, its aims and its outcomes. “There’s something so magical about this, so special to see, that M-Net wants to share it with audiences across Africa, because these are Africa’s own and they are taking their chance to shine. We want to laugh with them, cry with them, celebrate with them and now our audiences can do this, every step of the way,” Mrs. Alabi said.

As the winner receives cash prize of $50,000 and a modeling contract with O Model Africa.

Auditions for the new season began earlier this year in 14 countries – Angola, Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Further entry was opened online to entrants from across sub-Saharan Africa who wished to participate, thus gaining entries from as far as Sudan and Cameroon.

The next step was the casting sessions where a special team of model scouts evaluated entries and selected contestants to continue in the series. Emotional, dramatic and entertaining, these castings were filmed and DStv audiences will be able to see behind-the-scenes of the search and live out the experience.

At the end of the audition phase, 24 models from 16 countries were selected to participate in Model Boot Camp, in Mombassa in Kenya. This idyllic tropical paradise with its breathtaking shoreline will serve as backdrop for another selection round amidst modeling workshops, fashion photo-shoots and television filming.

With some of the selected contestants exiting the competition at this point, the Mombasa Boot Camp will be action-packed, exciting and a little tense, as contestants learn, hone their skills and compete to remain in the competition under the watchful eye of Boot Camp presenter and former Face of Africa 2005, Kaone Kario.

With stops scheduled in Johannesburg as well as a second Model Boot Camp in Dar`es Salaam at Swahili Fashion Week, with shooting of a music video with Nigerian superstar D’Banj, the Face of Africa adventure will be told every Saturday evening on M-Net West, in the lead-up to the Face of Africa 2009 finale, to be held in Lagos on Saturday February 6, 2010.

Meanwhile, as the search for a new Face of Africa gets underway, last year’s winner Kate Menson is living her dream job. The 24-year-old has been starring in M-Net’s advertising campaign for the new season of Face of Africa and in addition, she recently completed a stay at the Big Brother house.

Other credits include appearances at Mozambique Fashion Week, New Delhi Fashion Week, Cape Town Fashion Week and New York Fashion Week, while she also appeared on the pages of Elle, Glamour and Cosmopolitan.
Now, as Kate continues her rise to the top of the fashion world, a new face is about to be transformed from aspiring a model to fully-fledged modeling sensation, as M-Net search.

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