His father, a very well-known singer in Mayotte, remained on the island. For personal reasons, he was unable to go to Futuroscope in Poitiers where the Miss France election is being held this Saturday evening, live on TF 1. His mother, who lives in Ghana, where she teaches French, took a plane to support her daughter, as did her sisters and cousins who took the train to Vienna and will applaud Miss Mayotte very loudly this Saturday evening.
This Saturday morning, Zaya Toumbou, who is a student in Toulouse and has been rehearsing for almost three weeks at Futuroscope, woke up with bad news. When it is 7 a.m. in Mayotte, it is 9 a.m. in Poitiers. Cyclone Chido blows at 226 km/h and devastates the island, the 101st French department, in the heart of the Indian Ocean. On the big day, the misses stay in their bubble, rehearse without cell phones, save their last bit of strength.
“She will of course have a word for her island”
But Miss Mayotte is kept informed, in particular by her regional delegate Benucci Attoumani. “Since this morning, she has been linked to this disaster which is affecting her island,” explains the latter, present at Futuroscope. The island is completely paralyzed, it affects all of Mayotte, her family is there, they are concerned, touched. Zaya is focused on the election. It's the big night, she already has the pressure even without what's happening. She will do her best. If she makes it to the fifteen finalists, she will of course have a word for her island. But for that, we must already secure this top 15.”
Video“As if shells had fallen”, Garance crossed cyclone Chido in Mayotte
Only fifteen beauty queens have already been selected, in secret, by a jury representing the Miss France company and partners of the show, last Wednesday, to make a presentation speech around 11 p.m., but this list remains secret until the ceremony. “I don’t know anything myself. Nothing ever filters from this list,” the Mayotte delegate confirms. Even if it seems insignificant given the devastation reigning in the territory, this black Saturday disrupted the evening of the election on the island: “We had planned a fan zone to relay the show, that was obviously canceled . Almost the entire island is without electricity. No one will probably be able to see the election, or vote, if Zaya ever makes it to the Top 1.”
This Saturday evening, at 8 p.m., a somewhat lunar atmosphere in the press room of the Arena Futuroscope, we watch the opening of TF 1 news by Anne-Claire Coudray who devotes a long development to Mayotte. In the room, at exactly the same moment, the room driver announces that there will be a Miss France “teaser” – we say here the “coming next” – recorded and broadcast thirty minutes later at the end of the news to launch Miss France. The room is invited by Jean-Pierre Foucault to shout its enthusiasm. Miss Mayotte, like her 29 rivals, prepares in the boxes near the stands. A special day and evening. TF 1, to whom we asked the question, at this time, had not planned a call for donations or any particular intervention on Mayotte during the Miss France show.
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