Nelly Alexandra Kamwelu is a Tanzanian model and beauty queen who won the Miss Universe Tanzania and Miss Southern Africa International titles in 2011.She represented her country in Miss Universe 2011 in Sao Paolo, Brazil, Miss International 2011 in China[1], Miss Earth 2011 in Manila, Philippines.[2] and Miss Tourism Queen International 2011 in China.
She is her country's first and so far remains the only beauty queen who has competed in four Grand Slam Pagents (Miss Universe, Miss International, Miss Earth and Miss Tourism Queen International) in a single year.
| Nelly Kamwelu | |
|---|---|
| Born | Nelly Alexsandra Kamwelu Dar es Salaam, Tanzania |
| Other names | Nelly Kamwelu |
| Occupation | model, Beauty pageant contestant |
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Kamwelu was born to a Tanzanian father and a Russian Greek Mother. She started participating in regional beauty contests in 2008 and finally ended up as a second runner up in Miss Ilala 2008[3] after which she was able to participate in Miss Tanzania the same year but was unplaced.
Nelly has also featured in Music Videos of Tanzanian Musicians and also recorded a song Say it to my face before her departure for Miss Universe 2011. The song was released on Youtube while she was participating in the beauty contest in Sao Paolo, Brazil.[4]
She also represented Tanzania in Miss International 2011 which was held in China[5] and Miss Earth 2011 in Manila, Philippines but did not place in both.
Finally she represented her country in Miss Tourism Queen International 2011 which was held in Xian, China where she ended up as the 4th Runner up.[6]
Kamwelu won the fifth edition of the Miss Universe Tanzania pageant in May 2011.[7] and represented her country in the Miss Universe 2011 pageant in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Although she didn't place but grabbed attention with her National Costume which received a lot of positive reaction.[8]
Nelly replaced the Second-Runner-up of Miss Universe Tanzania to participate in Miss International 2011 and also replaced the First-runner-up upon returning back to her country from Chengdu, China, she represented Tanzania in Miss Earth 2011 and towards the end of the year in Miss Tourism Queen International 2011 which makes her Tanzania's first and only beauty queen to participate in Four Grand Slam Pagents (Miss Universe, Miss International, Miss Earth and Miss Tourism Queen International (TQI)) in a single year.[9]
Kamwelu was sponsored by the Tanzania Tourist Board to represent the country in Miss Southern Africa International pageant which was held in Ndola, Zambia as a part of Zambia International Trade Fair. She won the main title[10] by defeating six other contestants and also won the best Evening Gown award.[11]
At the end of year (2011), Nelly went ahead to compete in Miss Tourism Queen International 2011 and became her country's first contestant to have shined in the pagent by taking the 5th position in the finals.[12]