After a 10 year hiatus, the Miss Algeria beauty contest is being held on Friday in the west Algerian city of Oran, organisers of the event told AFP.
20 women between the ages of 18 and 26 have selected for the pageant from all over the country after careful consideration by the judges, who have a strict requirement for the participants, co-organiser and jury member Hamza Ameziane told AFP on Wednesday.
According to Ameziane, the women must stand at over 1.7 metres tall and have "classic proportions" of the hips, bum and bust, with measurements of 90,60,90. And, they must have French language training, Ameziane said.
Last held in 2003, the pageant was suspended after the death of Cheradi Hamdad, the competition's organiser. Hamdad created the competition in 1996 in the midst of Algeria's devastating civil war. His son Faycal has now taken over his duties.
"This first edition was difficult to organise because of a lack of sponsors," Hamdad told the French-language newspaper Liberte, adding that with this show he hoped to "restore the image of Algeria," according to AFP.
The judges of the panel include Algerian movie stars, including actress Bahia Rachedi, and Genevieve de Fontenay who has been part of the Miss France contest for over 50 years.
