Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
If you've been in Bahrain for more than a few days, chances are you know the name Albert Gayo - event planner extraordinaire, top notch hairdresser, talented designer ... the list goes on!
Marie-Claire caught up with him at the Mr Pogi International 2007 pageant held at the Baeng Saeng Thai Auditorium.
How much time and preparation goes into planning an event like this?
Let's see ... we started rehearsals about four weeks ago, so about five to six weeks working about two hours a day, every time we did rehearsals.
What kind of preparations and rehearsals do the contestants have to go through?
They had to go through rigorous training for the catwalk where I give them points on pose and points on photo and video shoots. I talk to them about power dressing and also on how to talk and how to tackle questions when it comes to the question and answer portion. So we go through a lot of different things to prepare for something like this.
How long have you been doing this for?
Well, actually this is only the second year for the Mr Pogi International pageant but I've been doing the July Rose for the last 20 years as well as all the other events I organise.
How many different nationalities took part in this pageant?
About seven different nationalities took part - a Filipino, some Pakistanis and Indians, an Argentinean and someone from Bangladesh as well as an Egyptian and, of course, some Bahrainis.
Do you see this developing into a much bigger event?
Yes, absolutely. It seems that people are already looking forward to it, like the July Rose and it isn't very difficult to convince guys to take part. I have more problems trying to get ladies involved in the July Rose than I do with the men for Mr Pogi (laughing).
