Delhi’s hottest fuchchas crowned

In a nail-biter of a finale, the winners of the Clean & Clear Delhi Times Fresh Face 2011 were announced on Friday at DLF Promenade Mall, Vasant Kunj.
The coolest campus contest in Delhi chose the hottest among the city’s first-years – Nonika Sharma and Somendra Solanki, with Nitibha Kaul and Vikramjeet Singh Bhattal as first runners-up and Vidushi Kaul and Devavrata Ronsa as second runners-up.They were chosen by a panel of judges, as fun and irreverent as the 18-year-olds on stage – actor Nikhil Dwivedi, TV anchor and VJ Ayushmann Khurrana, FDCI president Sunil Sethi, designers Gauri and Nainika Karan and Namrata Joshipura, Delhi Times editor Anshul Chaturvedi and Radio Mirchi RJs Stutee and Rohit. All this came after a couple of months of hectic voting on www.itimes.com/freshface.
‘BACK’ TO DANCE: It began with the intro round, in which the 16 finalists introduced themselves. Nikhil and Ayushmann were already impressed by the end of it because none of the contestants fumbled. The talent round was up next.
WHY THEY LOOKED SO GOOD: After the talent round, all the contestants walked the ramp in glamorous designer costumes, and they all looked stunning, thanks to a team of people – Charu Parashar, who did the girls’ outfits, Anky by Ankita and Anjana Bhargav, who did the guys’ outfits, Liza Varma, who choreographed the fashion show, and Amzadd Habibb and his team, who did the contestants’ makeup and hair. In fact, Habibb promised the winners a year of free makeovers at his salon! All this while, emcee Madhukar kept the proceedings brisk and fun, and DJ Sumit Sethi even performed with his band. Nine contestants were shortlisted after the show and tackled the judges’ questions, which turned out to be far from serious.
OMG, IT’S ME! Finally, it came to the moment everyone had been waiting for – the results. The wait got longer and longer as the judges argued fiercely over the winners. But it was worth the wait for the lucky six. Said Nonika, the winner, “I wasn’t expecting to win at all. Even when my mother said that I would win, I didn’t think I would. My legs were shivering when the results were being announced, and now I can’t stop smiling.” There are bigger things in store for the girls, as two lucky ones from among the winners might get a chance to be the next face of Clean & Clear! An ecstatic Somendra said, “My favourite part of the whole experience was the photoshoots. When my pictures would appear in the papers, my college friends would be like, ‘Woohoo! Dude, you’re in the papers!’ and that really felt great. My parents are very happy, and that – making them proud – makes me feel absolutely great.” If you missed this exciting finale, check out the pictures on www.itimes.com!
Arpita Nath, Chandna Arora and Kashika Saxena