MISS CHENNAI 2000

It was an evening charged with huge anticipation. The venue - Kumara Raja Muthiah hall. Sixteen pretty faces and that big question as to who would walk away with the crown.

The 16 finalists - Aishwarya, Aashrita, Chaahat, Divya, Lavanya, Leena, Mamathi, Medha (the obvious choice of many), Nina, Pooja, Saloni, Shwetlaw, Simran, Shamini, Shwetha and Upasana. Among them, some were professional models, some were in the fashion field for a while and some were fresh faces.

The panel of judges - movie star and current heartthrob Madhavan, actress Shalini Ajith Kumar, Director Vasanth, renowned classical singer Sudha Raghunathan, fashion designer Rehane, film maker Kailash Surendranath and theatre personality Bharat Dhabolkar. The anchor for the evening - Television actor Neelkant.

The contest was interspersed with dance and music performances. The evening started with a commercial break!, (that was how the host described it) followed by a scintillating dance performance by the Hot Shoe Dance Company. Professional models took the ramp with clothes designed by students of the Academy of Fashion and Textile Technology (AFTT). Then students of Artworx performed a foot-tapping number. Manoj Chopra who was introduced as Shaktimaan (meaning powerful man) performed some amazing feats. Then, a performance by Aarti and her troupe.

There were also a host of sub-events that took place on 31st October. Medha walked away with Miss Body Beautiful and Miss Beautiful hair. The Miss Talent title was shared by Shamini and Mamathi. Miss Sporty was Simran and Miss Congeniality was Leena. The best designer gets a prize too, and it went to Vidya of AFTT. Simran was the model who wore the best designed outfit.

The three decisive rounds were the Traditional wear round, Miss Catwalk and the Question-answer round. Shamini sashayed away with the Miss Catwalk crown. After the first two rounds, sixteen was reduced to six lucky ladies - Shamini, Medha, Pooja, Divya, Mamathi and Simran. One question was posed to all the six shortlisted ladies.

The question was 'What is it, that you will do, to get noticed?'

The answer that got the crown was, " I stay quiet in a crowd. People finally notice me because I am silent. Then I talk to them, laugh with them and make friends with them. In the end, they end up liking me." And Pooja took home the title Miss Chennai 2000.

The first runner-up was Medha and the second runner-up was Divya.