Džejla Glavović – she won Miss Earth 2002 but was dethroned seven months after
In only its second year of existence, Miss Earth crowned another European as the winner. Džejla Glavović of Bosnia & Herzegovina was adjudged the best that time. But almost seven months after, the organizers dethroned her for being unable to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of the title. As a result, her 1st Runner-Up (Miss Earth Air 2002) Winfred Omwakwe of Kenya took over for the remainder of the reign.
”Džejla Glavović of Bosnia & Herzegovina won the title that year, also receiving Miss Talent. However, on May 28, 2003, the Miss Earth Foundation officially dethroned her “due to her failure to comply with the stipulations in her contract.” Miss Air (First runner-up) from Kenya, Winfred Omwakwe, took over the position of Miss Earth 2002. Omwakwe was formally crowned as the new Miss Earth 2002 on August 7, 2003 at the Carousel Gardens in Mandaluyong City, Philippines…”
Winnie Omwakwe took over as Miss Earth 2002
Being a top model in her home country and parts of Eastern Europe, Džejla must have been hard-pressed to turn down job offers without necessarily seeking the permission of Carousel Productions. I reckon that she chose to take the risk of losing the crown in order to freely accept new modeling assignments that are more income-generating on a professional level. The title of Miss Earth was still trying to build its brand at the time. And in her part of the world, the recognition possibly didn’t matter much to booking agents and the like. Hence, the pageant mileage may not have worked to her advantage.
While her replacement only had three months of reign as Miss Earth 2002, Winnie maximized whatever opportunities that came with the title. Being tagged as the first African to win the crown, she brought joy to her fellow Kenyans. A Physiotherapist by profession, she pursued the pageant’s environmental causes before finally making a farewell walk during Miss Earth 2003 where she was succeeded by Dania Prince of Honduras (left photo).
Miriam Odemba of Tanzania (right) when she was named Miss Air to Karla Henry's Miss Earth back in 2008.
Back in 2008, Miss Earth had the host delegate for a winner. And nobody was closer to spoiling the victory of Karla Henry than her 1st Runner-up (or Miss Air) Miriam Odemba of Tanzania who many pageant watchers thought was to become Africa’s 2nd ME titleholder after Kenya’s Winnie Omwakwe (who replaced the dethroned Dzejla Glavovic) of 2001.
Miriam has the fun and engaging personality all her own. Most of the candidates agreed that she would be a nice fit for the crown. But then again, the Cebuana in Karla was not to be denied the bragging rights as the first Filipina to be named top environmental warrior. She more than nailed the Q&A. And so, when it was time for the last two women standing, the crowd at the Philippine Centennial Expo in Clark, Pampanga knew that the Tanzanian would definitely come in second.
And while Miss Odemba was hoping she could pull the rug from under Miss Henry’s feet, it just wasn’t meant to be at the time.
Anyways, check out one of her latest fashion pics below.
In my opinion, these five are the best from Africa in ME2013 (Photo credit: Jonas Yu/Critical Beauty)
I have not seen a stronger line-up of African delegates in Miss Earth during the past decade. 2013 is getting a bumper crop of contenders from this continent. I simply limited my choices to five (5) but could come up with another addition like Samantha Dika of Zimbabwe.
Tanzania’s Clara Noor alone should be a shoo-in for the semifinals at this point. Her unique beauty, flawless skin tone and graceful ways are more than enough to convert any watcher to her favor. The styling is spot-on.
And then there’s the curvaceous Ashanti Mbanga from South Africa whose waistline is unbelievably trim (think Venus Raj). To her credit, this statuesque lady is also an environmental charmer who did her homework way before arriving in Manila for the competition.
And how could anyone miss the modern vibes of Cote D’Ivoire’s Bintou Traore – who celebrated her birthday right after registering for the pageant more than a week ago – and Nigeria’s Marie Miller whose chic disposition will hardly go unnoticed?
Lastly, the elegance of South Sudan’s Gloria Karsis is omnipresent. It doesn’t surprise me anymore since this country has been sending equally regal reps to other beauty competitions such as Miss World.
Will Miss Earth crown an African this year?
Could 2013 be finally a year for the Africans? Miss Earth may have had one black winner (Winnie Omwakwe of Kenya) back in 2002, but a replacement one at that after the original (Dzejla Glavovic of Bosnia & Herzegovina) was dethroned. Is the time ripe for a real winner from this continent to stand up? Methinks yes. 😉
Hi! Norman here. When I'm not working, I spend most of my free time planning on daily blogs. If you will notice, I always make sure that a fresh topic comes out everyday - not an easy thing to do but it's all good. Thanks for dropping by and enjoy the visit!
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