Blonde movie star Charlize Theron may not immediately suggest Africa, but for the woman who comes from a working class town in South Africa, and her thousands of local fans, skin colour was irrelevant when she won this year's Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in Monster.
In celebrity-starved South Africa, Theron's victory was milked for all it was worth. During her trip home soon after the Oscar ceremony she was welcomed like visiting royalty. In turn, Theron made obligatory appearances alongside politicians, on talk shows and on magazine covers, before returning to Hollywood.
Public relations windfalls like this have been rare over the past decade. Since Nelson Mandela walked free, a memorable television moment if there ever was one, South Africa has battled to live up to the wave of goodwill it enjoyed in the years following the end of apartheid. Its star diminished as the world lost interest.
In the end, Theron's victory was only one of an array of headline-grabbing events in 2004 that have left South African's somewhat giddy at the unaccustomed self-confidence they have brought. Coincidentally, this year was also the 10th anniversary of the country's first non-racial elections, and as it turned out, South Africans had plenty to celebrate.
The country was awarded the hosting of the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament, to the delight of millions of soccer-mad South Africans who despaired they might never be entrusted with such a large event. South Africa's bid for the 2006 cup failed because of back-room skulduggery that left it one vote short.
At the time, the national mood of defeatism was so prevalent that nobody was surprised when the tournament went to Germany.