Odessa Phillips was crowned Miss Guyana/Universe 2004 on Saturday night, edging out her fellow Miss Guyana World queen, Olive Gopaul in what was predicted to be a close contest between the two.
But while it might have been a night for beauty queens, the special guest, Calypso King, the Mighty Sparrow ruled the roost with pulsating rhythms that threatened to overshadow the proceedings.
Phillips, the 21-year-old West Demerara beauty, sponsored by Vonda Gaspar's Designs, grabbed the judges' nod with her answer to the final question and also her response to hostess, the 1998 Miss Universe, Wendy Fitz-william's questions about her platform.
Phillips, wearing what many described as a quite ordinary body-hugging green and gold gown, did not have the crowd's support as much as her main rival in the competition, but in the end her cooler disposition won the night.
Gopaul was the crowd's favourite from the start, dressed in a unique multi-coloured gown with straps and a daring slit that revealed silky smooth legs. The only thing she might have done wrong was to repeat herself when talking about her chosen platform.
Full of attitude and very assertive, the 23-year-old former Spanish teacher, sponsored by Ameritech Global Guyana Limited, must have been left wondering what more she could have done.
She had to be satisfied with the first runner-up position, followed by Michelle Armstrong (Dipcon), Sergean Elias (Haynes Associates) and Joylyn Perreira (MTV 65).
As is the norm, the event started late and the restless audience broke into a slow clap as they waited some 45 minutes. Fitzwilliam and renowned radio broadcaster, Bobby Vieira, now living in the USA, hosted the evening's programme.
The show opened with a piece by the National Dance Company followed by a parade of the beauties, the girls clad in black close-fitting pants and orange and pink sleeveless shirts. The set was spectacular with two ships moored at the front of the stage and a walkway lined with fairy lights. Unfor-tunately some of the girls' gowns became entangled in these lights and they needed help extricating themselves.
Unlike at other pageants, the girls did not introduce themselves, and their parade was followed by a performance by Henry Rodney and company.
The audience did not mind waiting for the evening gown section given that the King of Calypso, `The Mighty Spar-row', put in an appearance and had the crowd, which included Prime Minister Sam Hinds and his wife, Yvonne, enthralled.
Sparrow, who still has his `Sugar Waist' and a golden voice, was a hit and many said they had really paid their money to see him perform and not the girls. They even called for him to keep on singing and for the pageant to be held on another day. He dished out a number of crowd favourites including `Saltfish', `Man in my bedroom', `Liar' and `Never eat a white meat yet'.
All 23 delegates then appeared in their evening gowns and as in previous years some local designs were found wanting, with some girls looking as if they were wearing night gowns. One girl must have left the stage in tears following the crowd's reaction to her outfit with many shouting out that her designer could only have hated her. Armstrong and Perreira were widely acclaim-ed to have had beautiful gowns.
After this segment the final fifteen were chosen. Besides the final five they included Verita George, Angelica Fredericks, Anniece Manjet, Zina Edwards, Tenesha Leacock, Teannie Causway, Ashwini Dusrajh, Alisha Faria, Melissa Harris and Karen Duke. They were all serenaded by local singing star, Ossie Nedd before modelling identical red bikinis
The judges then picked the final five who were briefly questioned on their platform. Was this the moment the crown slipped from Olive's well-manicured hand?
She said that were she to win the pageant she would use the forum to educate young people on the impact of HIV/AIDS. Then in wrapping up she stated very much the same thing.
The final question, asked by Fitzwilliam, was "What is success?" Gopaul and Phillips were the only ones who really answered the question.
Gopaul described success as an achievement adding that it was when someone dedicated energy and time to attain something they really wanted.
Perreira answered that success was being happy with who you were and knowing you could achieve more. Elias replied that success was having happiness in your life no matter how much money you had. Armstrong described success as being who you really were and not pretending.
Phillips said success was an accomplishment when someone overcame barriers to achieve something. Some of what she said was drowned out by the reaction of the crowd.
It was crunch time. Gopaul and Phillips, who have had a simmering rivalry going all year and have admitted there is tension in their relationship, held hands centre stage. When Phillips had passed on the baton to Miss World 2003, Alexis Glasgow, she had said that she (Phillips) wouldn't reign in Glasgow's glory, a suggestion that Gopaul, who had won the year before Phillips, had stood in her way. Phillips was finally announced the winner and Gopaul embraced her and kissed her on her cheek.
After winning, Phillips told reporters that she thanked God, stating that without him she would not have been crowned a second time. She said even though she was aware that the contest was really between her and Gopaul, in the end she was calm since she new what she was about. And putting the victory in context she said when she is finally admitted to the bar to practise law that would be her greatest success.
Gopaul said Saturday night was her last pageant, declaring that she was satisfied she had done her best.
Judging started two weeks before pageant night with the intelligence segment and the swimsuit competition.
The judges for the night were Malcolm Panday, June Griffith-Cullison, Patrick Denny, Mark Waldron, Hazel Octave-Hamilton, Captain Nickolette Henry, Al Creighton and Stanford Solomon.
Gopaul won for the Best Gown, Phillips, Best Smile, Michelle Armstrong, Best Swimsuit, Zena Edwards, Best Hairstyle and Alicia Faria, Miss Congeniality.
And after the hubbub was over, it was Sparrow time once again as the great Calypsonian rewarded those who remained in their seats with a half-hour of his hits.
This is the third Miss Guyana/Universe organized by Odinga Lumumba who holds the Miss Universe franchise. Phillips will be representing Guyana at the next Miss Universe pageant in Ecuador next year.
For the first time ever, touts were in evidence selling tickets for $500 more than the price originally available at.
Recently crowd behaviour at the National Cultural Centre has been rowdy and heavily criticised. The behaviour on Saturday night was much improved.