Two former Miss Guyana/World queens will be vying for the Miss Guyana/Universe crown come December 27 at the National Cultural Centre.

Stabroek News understands that the Miss Guyana/World 2001 queen, Olive Gopaul and her successor, Odessa Phillips, will be competing against each other for an opportunity to represent Guyana at the Miss Universe pageant.

Officials close to the Odinga Lumumba pageant committee refused to confirm if the two are indeed contestants in the pageant, however, this newspaper has been reliably informed that this is so.

Public Relations Officer for the committee, Steve Ninvalle, would neither confirm nor deny this information, but said that applications for the pageant were still being received.

Phillips only gave up her Miss Guyana/World crown this year and is back at the University of Guyana pursuing her law degree.

Meanwhile, Gopaul, who has been described as one of Guyana’s best queens in recent times, is a member of the Miss Guyana/World Committee and has been in the spotlight ever since winning the crown.

Another queen, who is also part of the pageant, is Miss Jamzone 2003, Eletha Stewart.

And once again the media is not left out, as News Update’s court reporter and presenter, Joylin Perreira, is also a contestant.

Stabroek News understands that the deadline for applications was supposed to be September 31 but this has been extended to facilitate the intake of two or three other persons. The reigning queen, Leanna Damond, will have her reign shortened so as to facilitate her successor having adequate training for the Miss Universe Pageant.