Pretoria, South Africa – 31 October 2011 –
The finalists of Mr. Gay South Africa™ 2011 will go through stringent judging on the gay and gay-friendly cruise to Mozambique from 14 – 18 November 2011 to Maputo and Imhambane, Mozambique. The judges are only revealed to the finalists on the second night on the cruise, by which time several judging rounds would already have been concluded.
Not only will they then have to report back on their activities building up to the cruise to the three judges, like their charity fundraising and ticket sales, but they will also be judged on different tasks such as a talent competition as well as in a group session, written exam on general knowledge, LGBTI history and current events and in a one on one interview with the judges during the five day cruise.
The judging on the cruise counts for 50% of the total mark. The rest is made up of 25% being the vote by the LGBTI community through SMS voting and 25% by the five international judges during interviews and stage appearance at the Grand Finale.
On the cruise itself, three finalists plus a chaperone is allocated to a cabin with each cabin being named after the sponsor who sponsored cabins. The cabins are named Alternative Travel 1, Plum 2, Kat-Man-Doo 3, Mrs Simpson’s 4 and Club Travel Honeydew 5.
Alternative Travel is also the travel agent for the cruise, Kat-Man-Doo is a monthly gay men-only retreat in Dullstroom and an official sponsor, Plum nightclub sponsored cabins, Mrs Simpson’s, the well-known restaurant in Dullstroom contributed and Club Travel Honeydew sponsored cabin fare as well as the first prize of the competition being a trip to Thailand for two for a week, both flying business class. The winner will also stay at The BougainVilla, Phuket, for another week before returning to South Africa to continue his duties.
The finalists are accompanied by a crew consisting of the three directors and their partners, the official photographer Kyle Correia de Araujo, the choreographer Stefan Carstens from 3 Way Theatre, the director Kosie Smit from Kosie House of Theatre and first prince of 2010, André Lammers who will be presenting the Mr. Gay South Africa crown. The rest of the crew are made up of Johan Kruger and Derek Novello from Plum, the official nightclub sponsor. Also on board is the winner of the cruise competition by Guvon Hotels which was sponsored by Mr. Gay South Africa (Pty) Ltd as well as the Group Marketing Officer of Guvon Hotels, Christa van der Merwe, who facilitated the accommodation for Mr. Gay World 2012.
Entertainment on the cruise will be provided by one of the officially best dressed “women” in South Africa, well-known Cathy Specific and Melanie Lowe, LGBTI icon and singer as well as Shannin Brown, a well-known drag artiste.
John-Louis O’Neil, Sponsor and Logistics Director said: “Transport to and from the airport and the cruise ship the MSC Sinfonia is provided by Europcar and the finalists and crew are staying at The Hilton Hotel, Durban. Bone Wear supplies the finalists with a full kit of underwear, swimwear and beach wear, GF Men’s Wear supplies formal wear to the directors and Old Faithful is the designer house on board. Globeflight ferries all the gear to Durban and MichaelGamePlan makes sure that the skin is kept free from sunburn and dryness.”
The Grand Finale will happen on Saturday the 26th of November at The Lyric, Gold Reef City and tickets, priced from R150 upwards, may be bought at any Shoprite or Checkers or online at Computicket here: http://online.computicket.com/web/event/mr_gay_south_africa_tm_2011/419163511/ .
The VIP tickets are all on the balcony and are priced at R250 upwards and include access to a private bar on the first floor, goodie bags and free entry with the VIP ticket stub to the After-Party at Plum nightclub, Hill Street, Hatfield in Pretoria. The VIP tickets sold out last year and guests are advised to book as soon as is possible.
