Rosemary at Miss World 2004 - China

Miss World Interview - Rosemary at Miss World 2004 - Sanya Island, China!
Exclusively from info@rosemarychileshe.com

1 How did you get to go to Miss World?

Well, as Miss Zambia UK, the next step for me was to travel back home and compete in the national contest and only then would I have been eligible to go to Miss World, however the year I represented Zambia, a national contest was not taking part and the title holder in Zambia had already represented mother Zambia at Miss World the previous year, so accordingly to God's will or lucky me perhaps, the only hard work I did whilst in Zambia, was maintain my character. I carried out various official duties - press conferences, television appearances, opening of school (s) and commencing the construction of an orphanage and the biggest of all, hosting a 'Stay Alive for Zambia - Inspire A Child concert. All of these duties were for a full period of 3 weeks - details and photos are on my web-site.

2 How did you prepare for the Pageant?

It was a lot of hard work especially more at I was travelling to China a week after arriving back in England from carrying out the official duties in Zambia. I just finished my final year at university, had no choice but to give up my job as I was in Sheffield at the time, I then moved to London for a period of 10 weeks in preparation for both the Zambian trip and the Miss World trip. Leading up to that, I had to 'breathe, eat, sleep and drink both trips'. I had a lot of reading to do, catching up on current issues, had to keep on top of what was happening in Zambia and of course I needed to know the background of China, as a country hosting the event, I needed to be aware of their culture, it is the obvious thing to do.

3 How did you find the whole experience?

The experience was amazing and one, which taught me a lot. We had to be in China for a full month before the evening of the pageant. In total, we were approximately 107 girls, all beautiful in our own rights. You can imagine everyone wanted to be the winner, for me personally, as smart as I believe myself to be, it was all about the fun. No one was to know who the winner would be until the actual night so, it was advisable for myself to enjoy every moment from the very first day and every now and again, I loved the attention we were given, we had to move with security at all times (even just stepping out of your room, you needed security). We had the treatment of VIPs as we were ambassadors of our respective countries, of course I also treated the trip as a holiday, I had never been to China before.

4 What was your most amazing experience?

Everything was amazing for me, all the girls stayed in the Sheraton hotel, we took over 8 floors! situated on the resort of Sanya Island. We were paired up, I was with Miss Zimbabwe, the Miss World office wanted to ensure that all the girls were placed with someone they had some similarities with, I guess in my situation, Zimbabwe is Zambia's neighbour (but of course, the Victoria Falls belongs to Zambia!) and this was purely so that we did not feel home-sick etc.

The most bizarre experience was when we finally got the opportunity to go shopping after pleading for the shops, we were that busy with press conferences, guest appearances, rehearsals, the media following our every move, doing at least 3 changes of clothing a day! So it was refreshing to finally go shopping and this was NO ORDINARY experience, the whole department store in the centre of China was closed for 2 hours just for us beauty queens, so that we could shop minus the excited crowd of shoppers. We had the local people, press etc. waiting outside the store just so they could take photos of us, that only happens in Movies, right?? very bizarre. Two of many special experiences for me were:1) Out of the 107 countries, I was one (1) out of the thirty (30) countries picked to be driven in my own sports car during the Chinese Parade, like all other twenty nine (29) countries, I was standing through the sun roof, possibly dangerous but quite exciting, besides I had a good driver, he made sure I was safe.

2) Out of the 107 countries, I was picked again within the ten (10) countries to pose with Lionel Richie on his second day of arrival - up close and personal! His first day was 'Lionel Richie day' for the locals. Then of course, I was with him on stage singing along to once, twice, three times a lady on stage and during the coronation ball as evident on my web-site.

5 How easy was it to communicate with the local people?

It was easy enough, I still used English but additionally, we learnt a few common words in Chinese, such as 'Nee Hao Sanya' meaning 'Hello Sanya' , Wo Ai Sanya' meaning 'I love Sanya' and wait for the complicated one…'Wor Hen Gao Shing' meaning 'I am so happy', the crowd loved it. On a funny note, if someone spoke to me in Chinese and I had no idea what they said, I would respond back with a smile in Nyanja/Bemba (Zambia's local languages), they then became as confused as they made me!

6 Were you disappointed you did not win?

Not at all, I had such a wonderful time there and I am a strong believer that everything happens for a reason. Getting there had one or two hiccups, during my connection flight to Paris, my luggage was overweight and this was only discovered after going through all security. I was then asked to leave a lot of items at the airport, which included a lot of personal items, my change of clothing for when I arrived in China with all accessories including new shoes to match!, all make-up sponsored by Iman Cosmetics, my personal folder with all my photos and press releases, personal notes, perfumes, other items of clothing etc. Believe this, I was assured my items would be passed on to my director who was within the airport however up to this date, I am still parted with my items, I believe the airport crew had a field day with it all. I was upset but not for long as there are only items, which can be replaced and I believe that everything is always seen no matter what, so I am assured either way.

7 Wow, how did you cope without these items, you obviously needed them?

Definitely I needed my make-up, as it was a competition, no one would be that quick to assist you with their make-up (I would!). I only got a negative response once and that was 'don't have enough, its probably not your shade', so Rosemary being a Rose and spiritually guided, for 2 weeks until my director arrived, I made do with the little make-up I happened to have in my handbag - eye shadow worked great for its purpose as well as a blusher and a bit of lip gloss here and there finalised the whole look. Lesson for you all:- Beauty is within so never be fooled that unless you wear an 'x amount' of make-up you will look fab!

The pleasure has been all mine. Love and Best Wishes. Rosemary Chileshe - www.rosemarychileshe.com