Nabia is fourth to exit

Last week’s episode of the Ghana’s Most Beautiful had no Star Performer and Miss Eloquent as the judges described the contestants’ presentations as “not impressive”.

According to them, “majority did not impress us. No Star Performer, no Miss Eloquent. They did not abide by time and weren’t impressive”.

Though a lot of them missed their lines, they managed to pull through.

Nabia’s eviction

The night was also an indication of the need for people to constantly vote for their favourite contestant to keep them in the competition as Nabia’s eviction was a painful one for some of the audience, especially after her great performance.

Nabia performed the famous “Bamaya dance” of the people of the Northern Region.

Her steps, coupled with her gestures on stage were just on point.

 It was, therefore, no surprise that the audience cheered her on.

She gave an insight into the dance, explaining that “the purpose of the dance is to bring down the rains to protect us from drought”.

Bamaya, meaning “the valleys are wet”, was traditionally performed by males who wore female clothing.

That, she said, was because the gods listened to women though women were not allowed to go near the gods.

Unlike the popular belief that the eviction rests with the judges, the judges said “70 per cent is on voting, it is rather unfortunate that Nabia would have to leave us”.

Night of tradition

The theme for the night was: “Night of tradition”, and all contestants were to come up with performances on a cultural practice in their region within three minutes, 30 seconds.

The queens were expected to have mastered their subject areas in delivering a presentation filled with education and entertainment.

Naa set the ball rolling with a performance on naming ceremony - “Kpodziemo” - performed by the people of Ga-Adangme.
 
She spoke about the essence of child naming and why the performer of the naming rite puts the baby on the floor and touched with his feet.

Though she missed a few words, she managed to be consistent in carrying out her message.

Wekia performed on arranged marriages as against courtship, explaining that the importance of courtship in her region was to restrict the two from engaging in sexual intercourse and preserve themselves for marriage.

In her presentation, she was someone whose suitor had come to perform the necessary marriage rites but was attacked by an old man who claimed to have paid for her dowry when she was a little girl.

Ohema appeared on stage as a chief linguist who had come to tell the difference between the “Bono” and the “Ahafo”.

Poised, Ohema spoke extensively on the origin of the Bonos being Israel as the Ahafos were hunters who had come to hunt on the Bonos’ land but upon realising the land was fertile, they decided to settle.

She gave an account of how the Bonos fought for eight years to be given a separate region as according to them there were no developmental projects in their region.

In short, she urged the Bono, Ahafo, Akuapem and all the Akan communities to see themselves as one.

The judges fell in love with how she managed to switch from drumming to her linguist style.

Afrah from the Ashanti Region took advantage of her region’s love for funerals to showcase what goes into funeral preparation.

In a funeral apparel and being one of the few contestants who had their lines intact, she explained that funeral was seen as “a transition to a next level’’ among the Ashanti community, hence they attached seriousness and involved the entire community.

According to her, “funerals integrate the family, funerals bring unity to us and funerals bring us together”.
 
From the Central Region, the judges were not so much pleased with Tewa’s performance.

According to them, they “expected a little excitement or humour”.

Though she was to perform on “parenting female child on our special cuisine”, she did not touch on any food preparation, which was an expectation of the judges.

She, however, focused on teaching them the use of a cutlery set and also urged the public to consume more of our local foods.

Compared to the previous week, Abena’s performance lost its usual vibe as she kept missing her lines and did not seem her usual self.

Advocating for the modernisation of puberty rites, she came on stage with “dipo rites” and explained the essence of the rite as it ushered young girls into womanhood.

With the belief that the practice could be revised to suit development, she said performing the rite did not also mean that the girls were ready for marriage.