Los Angeles

The Variety International Conference started on the 20th May with a welcome reception at the pool of the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood, Los Angeles. It was a lovely event and I got to spend time with my friend Miss World 2007 Zilin Zhang. I also met Miss World 2002 Azra Akin and Miss World 1980 Kim Santos for the first time. They are both amazing and so beautiful!

On the 21st of May I attended the Heart Awards where Variety International recognizes the Tent which has demonstrated the most collective efforts for community welfare in accordance with the aims and objectives of the charity.

It was such a fun night and many of the tents got on stage to sing a song from their country. All the guests were on their feet singing along and everyone enjoyed themselves. At the end of the night the top prize of The Gold Heart Award was presented to Israel by Julia Morley, the International President of Variety.

On Saturday 22nd myself and Zilin and Azra attended the ‘We Serve the Kids Lunch’ event organized by Young Variety, the younger delegates of Variety International. Local LA school children were treated to a great lunch and then we participated in some activities including arts, crafts and making cookies. To everyone’s surprise Disney characters Shrek and Alvin the Chipmunk turned up to join in the party!

On the final night of the conference those outside of Variety were recognized at the Humanitarian Awards Dinner. Simon Cowell was awarded the Humanitarian Award, while Sarah, Duchess of York received the Catharine Variety Sheridan Award for her work with children in crisis. It was a fantastic black tie dinner, and I loved walking down the red carpet. Everyone had an amazing evening and most importantly learnt about the good work Variety does for hundreds of thousands of children every year.