Kathmandu, May 7

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder", but is it really? How do we define beauty? Is it just skin deep or do we take a glance into deeper virtues at heart, soul and mind to define beauty?

Amidst worldwide speculations on the credibility of beauty pageants and the effect it has on young minds, Miss Nepal 2012 was crowned under the spectacular Super Moon in the capital, Sunday.

Despite the beautiful moon that awed us all that night the 17 Miss Nepal finalists took away all the attention as the audience watched dazed at the beauties who were clad in the magnificent ethnic outfits designed by Vishal Kapoor.

As the moonlit night progressed, so did our anxiety as every finalist looked equally strong. "Though Shristi was a very strong contestant, as a judge I must say all the contestants were extremely talented and we had a tough time deciding the winners," said actress Reecha Sharma, who was a member of the panel of judges.

The organizers did do a good job at choosing the venue, but I really wouldn’t say the same for the lighting. The audience who were seated at the back were unable to see the pageant clearly as the lighting was poor and the side screens were a total waste. Despite Sahana and Biraj’s efforts to keep the crowd excited the lighting had the audience at the back trying hard to get a glimpse of what was going on, on stage.

Another downside was the performances by Raymon Das Shrestha, Vinay Shrestha and Shreya Sotang for Visa Girl. It was extremely average performance and sounded like they were singing at a karaoke bar. Apart from this, we must say the show was put up well. The judges too did a great job as the questions they asked were interesting and tested the girls’ knowledge on current issues, their beliefs and virtues.

However, most of the audience noticed that Shristi, Nagma Shrestha and Alisha Kunwar stood out right from the beginning. It was kind of disappointing to see Alisha not making it to the top 5.

Malina Joshi’s speech was long but it reminded us of why she was crowned Miss Nepal last year.

All in all, it was a night to be remembered as three remarkable ladies were crowned Miss Nepal World, Miss Nepal Earth Miss and Miss Nepal International.

Well lets just hope this year our ladies do us proud in the international platforms! All the best girls.