Malika Khusainova, an undergraduate student of S. Toraighyrov Pavlodar State University, won the Audience Choice Award at Miss Pavlodar 2015, an annual beauty pageant.

This year's event was held at City Community Center named after Yestay. Having successfully passed the qualifying round, 8 candidates reached the final stage.

The beauty pageant included four stages. The first one was a creative self-introduction. In the second stage, candidates had to show their dancing skills. The task for the next stage was to impersonate a famous singer or actress. Malika played the part of the gypsy from the movie “Queen of the Gypsies”. The contest committee commended Malika for her acting skills and artistry. Finally, there was a demonstration of national costumes, where Malika showed some fine examples of national wedding dresses.

At the end of the contest, the winners were announced. Sofiya Sharikova, sixteen, won the main prize and the title of Miss Pavlodar 2015. Madina Beysembayeva and Irina Bondar were named the first and the second runners-up respectively. Malika Khusainova, a third-year undergraduate student of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, won the Audience Choice Award.

According to Malika Khusainova, the support from her teachers and fellow students played the decisive role in this achievement. The audience liked her creative approach to every task in the contest. “By taking part in this beauty pageant, I wanted to show that PSU students are the most talented in the region,” she said.

Photo by Rufina Torpischeva