Shamika Hoeta has been crowned Miss Teen New Zealand and now has another beauty title in her sights. Photo / johnprattphoto@icloud.com
A Taranaki teenager has claimed a national beauty queen crown.
Shamika Hoeta, 18, said winning the title of Miss Teen New Zealand was “a complete surprise”.
“All the entrants looked so good and were all so nice.”
The event took place in Hamilton’s SkyCity in late April and the pageant was “an incredible experience,” said Hoeta.
It was Hoeta’s first time entering a beauty pageant, so coming away with the crown feels “incredible”, she said.
An aspiring model and singer, Hoeta entered the pageant on the advice of her agent.
“It was quite near the pageant date when I entered, so I didn’t have much time to get ready for it.”
With a range of outfits required for the various categories, the former Taranaki Diocesan School student had to do some last-minute shopping for a cocktail dress.
“I bought it two days before the final.”
The dress she wore to her Year 13 ball came in handy for the evening gown category, she said.
“I actually won that section.”
Proving that some women can look good in anything, even a rubbish bag, Hoeta also won the national costume section. She said contestants were given a collection of black rubbish sacks, some scissors, tape and other craft items in the morning of the final and challenged to create a “national costume” to model on the catwalk that night.
“I just started cutting up the bags and trying to put them together in a way to suit my body, then I made poi to go with them.”
With one pageant crown under her belt, or rather on her head, Hoeta now has a second crown and sash in her sights.
“I’ve entered the Miss Earth New Zealand pageant so am now working on getting outfits organised for that, and looking for sponsors for things like hair, makeup, skincare products and stuff. I’d really like to represent some Taranaki and Whanganui companies and designers on the pageant stage.”
As Miss Teen NZ there is already the opportunity for some travel later this year, and if Hoeta wins the Miss Earth NZ crown, more travel would include going to Europe for some modelling, a career Hoeta has already dipped a perfectly manicured toe into.
“I booked my first modelling job last year, and that was to model at New Zealand Fashion Week. It was a really big way to start my modelling career.”
Modelling and pageant work might both be about image, but they are very different in some ways, said Hoeta.
“Modelling is about the clothes, so the model themselves is more neutral. It’s about showcasing what you wear, not yourself. Pageants though are about the person themselves, so it’s much more obvious makeup and things.”
Both require plenty of confidence, something Hoeta said she had developed over time.
“At school originally I was quite shy. In my school speech last year, I talked about that and about aiming for your dreams no matter what, and some of the younger students told me afterwards they really liked what I said, because it was honest and encouraged them.”
She had built her confidence through singing, said Hoeta.
“I used to do a lot of singing at country music festivals, so I am used to being on a stage and performing.”
In between modelling and pagenets, Hoeta is still singing.
“I’m doing more of my own songwriting now, and more pop style music than country. I want to be a model and a singer, and all of this is helping me get there.”
Ilona Hanne is a Taranaki-based journalist and news director who covers breaking and community news from across the lower North Island. She has worked for NZME since 2011.
Director Christine King balances farce and serious themes in 'Love and Mistletoe'.