Master of Ceremonies ProVerb reminded the crowd how, every year, FHM readers get the chance to vote for who they think is the world's most beautiful woman. The top 100 are revealed and compiled into a sexy supplement, which is published and packaged with the magazine's July edition.
This year, the support was simply staggering. "There were 2 million votes this time around," ProVerb told the crowd. "That is a growth of 1 million from last year!"
A 100 percent increase in nothing to scoff at. Neither was the celeb support shown at the event. Walking in on red carpet a la Hollywood, three lifts, each with its own operator, took VIPs and party-goers up to the seventh floor, where drinks and hot ladies were in plentiful supply, and DJ Ricky H spun the decks.
Vanessa Carreira, our Miss SA 2001 and second runner-up for Miss Universe in 2002, made an appearance - with hardly a camera leaving her alone. Tracy McGregor, winner of 2008's top 100 Sexiest Women in the World was there as well, and appears as number 14 in this year's competition.
On the male front, Jacques Terre'blanche from Idols was at the party, as well as Irvin from Big Brother. Graeme Watkins, also from Idols fame, worked the crowd with his new pop-electro band, The Graeme Watkins project.
He revealed to Bizcommunity.com that the band will soon be releasing its first single, called Real World, followed by a European tour.
"I'm loving the event. I've been to an FHM party before and it's always good," he told me. "I'm just waiting for someone to jump out of a cake like last time."
The Graeme Watkins Project consists of Ryno Zeelie on lead guitar, Rudo Pieterse on bass guitar, Matthew Marinus on drums and Graeme Watkins on vocals.
Fellow local musicians Gareth and Paul Wilson from Southern Gypsey Queen were also spotted. Paul Wilson often appears in Heat magazine's sexiest men lists and calendars.
During the night, five lucky voters were called on stage to compete for the grand prize (worth R50 000) consisting of a 40-inch 3D LED Samsung TV, a Blue Ray player, and two 3D glasses. Having grabbed hold of the marked Miller's bottle, Matthew Gregory scored the goods and, as ProVerb pointed out, would be having a very enjoyable FIFA World Cup viewing experience.
And after that, the moment everyone had been waiting for was upon us - the naming of FHM's top sexiest woman in the world. And the winner is ... 22-year-old Roxy Louw, daughter of former Springbok Rob Louw. As she danced on stage amid smoke and lights, the crowd went wild - cheering, whistling and clapping. Hagen Engler, editor of FHM, was there with a suitcase filled with R25 000 in cash for the deserving dame. Roxy had finished at number eight last year, and was voted FHM's Girl of the Century in its 100th issue.
After the announcement, 19-year-old twin brothers Brian and Andrew Chaplin from Locnville took over the stage to wow the crowd with their well-known hits, including Sun In My Pocket.
All in all, a successful and very entertaining event - I will gladly don my dancing shoes for it again next year.
Images by Schalk Groenewald - Pawz (www.pawz.co.za)
