Kurdistan Beauty Pageant 2019: 14 women beat out hundreds to compete in December event

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Fourteen candidates have been selected to compete in Kurdistan’s 2019 beauty pageant, scheduled to be held on Dec. 20.

Based on the criteria for the contest, the candidates have to be between the ages of 18 and 30 and speak at least three different languages.

Over the past few weeks, a Russian trainer has been preparing the contestants ahead of the Dec. 20 event.

“They are getting coached on how to pose and walk on the stage. They are also being taught media etiquette and other modeling protocol,” Sirwan Tofiq, Marketing Manager at the Kurdistan Region’s general board of tourism, told Kurdistan 24.

He mentioned that for the fourth beauty pageant contest, most of the contestants came from the Kurdistan Region’s provinces rather than abroad.

The fourteen candidates were chosen from the total of 107 women who registered for the contest.

“I have many projects in mind if I win the competition. I want to help disabled people and poor children… I also would like to open a beauty center,” Karez Zuhair, one of the candidates from Erbil, told Kurdistan 24.

“Similar to the previous winners of Miss Kurdistan, I would like to initiate projects for the Kurdistan Region. I am proud to participate in this contest,” said Sana Mahmoud, another candidate.

It is the fourth beauty contest in the Kurdistan Region. The type of competition is relatively new in the region, with traditional norms often acting as barriers for girls attempting to take part in such events.

Editing by Nadia Riva

(Additional reporting by Hero Mawludi)