Former Miss Guyana World winners Olive Gopaul and Odessa Phillips and MTV 14/65 news presenter Joylyn Perreira are among 26 young ladies from across Guyana hoping to win the chance to represent Guyana at Miss Universe 2004, to be held in Ecuador.
Head of Miss Guyana Universe, Odinga Lumumba, said when all the girls are revealed on November 15th, they will prove to be "some of the most beautiful women this country possesses".
The pageant will be held on December 27th to provide the winner enough time to prepare for Miss Universe.
"We want to cultivate a product that can win Miss Universe, and at the minimum place in the finals", Lumumba told reporters.
There should be no hesitation in saying that Ms. Olive Gopaul has a distinct advantage to win the local pageant and go on to Miss Universe, as she was a strong contender at Miss World in 2001, placing among the top 10 on the betting houses list, and winning the "Woman of Substance" award from internet's best pageant portal, Global Beauties.
Her popularity in Guyana is beyond question, and she would be following in the footsteps of queens from around the world who compete in international pageants more than once.
Miss Nigeria, for example, was a finalist at the Miss Universe pageant in 2001 and went on to represent her country at Miss World the very year and won.
As for Ms. Phillips, she did not make much of a mark at Miss World as far as the publicity went, and her popularity at home has not been good either.
However, the competition between Ms. Phillips and Ms. Gopaul should make money for Lumumba, especially since reports are that the two have not been "queenly" with each other.
Ms. Perreira, who presents MTV 14/65's court round up in the evenings, has never been in pageantry. However, she definitely has "the presence" that pageant pundits look for, and once she flaunts her charisma and charm, it's my bet that she'll definitely have the edge even over Ms. Phillips.
The delegates will go into training for November 1st.
Again this year, Lumumba has chosen to expose the intelligence of the delegates live on national television, even though this brought last year's delegates tremendous embarrassment when they slipped up, and this also dampened the enthusiasm of those at home.
The intelligence segment of international beauty pageants, including Miss Universe, is usually held behind closed doors.
The swimsuit competition has been scheduled for December 21st, at the Splashmins Fun Park and Resort.
Lumumba is promising international artistes for his pageant and told reporters he is trying to get the reigning Miss Universe Amelia Vega to visit.
The other delegates are: Tenesha Leacock, Karen Duke, Michelle Armstrong, Ramona Halls, Sergean Elias, Juanita Campbell, Verita George, Eletha Stewart, former Miss Amerindian Heritae Evita Walcott, former Miss Guyana World constestant Ashwini Dusrajh, Dionne Thmpson, Shellon Hinds, Melissa Harris, Tricia Chee-Foon, Michelle Playter, Fonseca Peter, Angelica Fredericks, Alisha Faria, Moleeva Stanley, Crystal Jeffrey, Teannie Causway, and Oneca Sam.