CAIRO: A dearly held fantasy of most little girls is to be a beauty queen when they grow up, complete with the jeweled crown, the beautiful dress and the satin sash across the chest, which are all essential details of the fairytale.
Fawzeya Mohamed is one of the few little girls who have grown up to live that dream when she was crowned Miss Egypt last month.
“I think she has typical Egyptian looks and she is quite confident. Her look may not be appreciated here but the judges really liked her – she will be highly approved of abroad, says Youssef Spahi, founder of the Face to Face agency that created the Miss Egypt competitions, which have been sponsored by Pantene for the past few years.
This year, the judges of the competition included Miss Croatia 2005, Jelena Glistic, Miss Greece 2005, Evangelia Arvani and Antigone Costanda, the first Egyptian Miss World 1954.
The winner is chosen based on an interview, evening gown competition and overall performance on the final night.
The 22-year-old winner has worked as a model for the past year. She has modeled for many prominent Egyptian designers, including Hany El Behery and Dagher, specializing in catwalks.
She had wanted to apply for the competition last year after a great deal of encouragement from the other models, but felt she needed some experience in the field first, “so I waited and applied this year and it worked out, thank God, she says.
The months of training for the competition were very hectic for the girls, as they had to take courses in etiquette, make-up and choreography, as well as exercising and being on a strict diet.
“Now that I have won, I want to put all my efforts into charity, says the beauty queen. She plans to help many orphanages, wants to work to prevent violence against children and hold a position in the global project 20/20 Vision that aims to prevent blindness. She elaborates, “I’ve always wanted to do something for charity and now I have a role and an influential one and I can do something about it.
Her favorite previous holders of the title are Merriam George (Miss Egypt 2005) for her elegance and grace, and Sarah Shahyn (Miss Egypt 2001) for her style and “cuteness.
Mohamed is still a student at Helwan University, studying tourism and hospitality. She sees her life as composed of different stages and is still not sure what career path to choose, although she is thinking about acting.
“Now I’m in a phase were I just want to concentrate on my title and of course the Miss Universe competition coming up, she says.
She has two aims in the upcoming Miss Universe 2006 pageant, taking place in Los Angeles. First, to get a high score, and secondly “I aim to paint a good picture of Egypt as they (the West) have a distorted one right now, she says.
There is no lucky man in her life right now and marriage is not currently a priority for her. She feels she is still young and would rather focus on herself and establish her identity first before settling down.
