My Goodness...

Wow, trust Nigerians to wait to the last minute to do everything. We set out to do this year's pageant with [15] very qualified candidates. The official deadline for applications was July 1st, making it approximately a 2-month long window for anyone interested in applying. A week before the deadline, we had received 34 applications, however 20 more came in that last week. Exciting, but terribly overwhelming at the same time.

All applications go through a series of screenings. Everything about the application is scrutinized to see how the applicants followed the simple instructions. Normally, we tend to overlook little mishaps here and there, but with the amount of applications we got this year, there was no room for error. It literally came down to the simple minute details.

Of the 54 applications we received, 38 applicants made it to the interview phase, 18 of whom applied in the last week. The 38 applications were sent of to our selection committee [individuals across the US, from different works of lives]. Each member of the committee got an electronic folder of each candidate. In the folder, we included their original applications, the pictures the candidates submitted, and notes from their phone interviews. Each member of the committee had instructions on what the organization is looking for in candidates. They had the difficult job of ranking the candidates based on a number of points. When all committee members had finished their ranking, we now had to compare all the rankings and come up with our final selections. Remember we had intended to have 15 delegates, but the candidates this year are so on point, we ended up with...........24 Delegates!

It wasn't easy...but we have them. They know who they are and you'll find out very soon. We would like to thank everyone that helped us get the word out there and every one that applied. Now that we have our lovely ladies, we're switching our focus to preparing for the show. Houston...y'all need to start preparing for us too...SERIOUSLY!

CONGRATULATONS to the 2007 Miss Nigeria In America Beauty Pageant Delegates, you earned your spot, let the competition begin.