Last Saturday at the Accra International Conference Center, beauty met with excellence as the search for this year’s Miss Malaika finally came to an end. 18-year-old Hamamat Montia was crowned the new Malaika queen. And the audience couldn’t agree more with the judges.

Right from the beginning of the show through to the very end, an overwhelming majority of the audience that had filled the auditorium of the International Conference Centre root for Hamamat and cheered her on to victory. She was greeted with rapturous applause each time she made an appearance on stage.

The segment that might have won the hearts of many for Hamamat was the talent display. While most of the delegates sang, Hamamat stepped out of the ordinary to impersonate Michael Jackson with ‘Billie Jean’. So good was her performance that almost everyone in the packed auditorium stood up -- screaming in admiration.

Overall, 21-year-old Alisa Ayippey came second [first princess] while Miskelly Brock-Smith, also 21, came third [second princess]. Myma Henrietta Oforiwaa Mantey won Miss Congeniality.