Odessa Phillips is shrugging off any suggestions her victory in the Miss Guyana/ Universe pageant on Saturday was anything less than above board and is basking in her new role.
She won the crown only months after she relinquished the Miss Guyana/World crown. Now she has made a resolution to do Guyana proud at the Miss Universe pageant in Ecuador next year.
Phillips yesterday spoke at a press conference which was also attended by first runner-up, Olive Gopaul, who is also a past Miss Guyana/World queen, former Miss Guyana/Universe queen, Leanna Damond and the Miss Universe franchise holder, Odinga Lumumba among others.
Gopaul, Phillips' main rival on Saturday night, restated what she said minutes after the result was announced that she was satisfied with her performance.
She added that in pageants the best person always won and that it all depended on the judges' decision which was always final.
Lumumba rebuffed suggestions in some sections of the media that the judges were not impartial in their judging. He pointed out that he was not the judge and the only thing he did was to set the final question.
At one point the press conference was reduced to a circus-like atmosphere with allegations flying back and forth between Lumumba and some reporters.
The fact that Lumumba started the press conference some half of an hour after the scheduled time without offering apologies did not help.
He then started by describing one reporter as a large snake who belonged in a zoo because of the report he had submitted on the pageant.
The reporter, supported by a colleague, threatened to walk out if there was no apology.
Lumumba, in answering questions about relations between organisers and delegates, said his organisation had helped out some of the contestants who were in dire financial straits. He was also asked about one of the judges knowing the queen, having coached her during her last reign.
But Lumumba said Guyana was a small country and most of the judges would have known at least one of the contestants. In the end Lumumba withdrew his remarks about the snake and said he thought the pageant went well.
According to Lumumba, one of the difficulties they faced was that they were not allowed access to the National Cultural Centre until a few days before the pageant.
He pointed out that in other countries the organisers were allowed access over a week before and were able to rectify any problems.
As for the defective microphones that hampered the performance of famed calypsonian, the Mighty Sparrow, he told reporters that leading up to the pageant organisers only dealt with the junior personnel at the centre since the senior persons were unavailable.
Meanwhile, he said it was a waste of time to have two Miss Guyana pageants adding that Guyana did not have the resources.
He disclosed that he had made certain proposals to the Miss World franchise holder, Ken Chung, but these were rebuffed.
Phillips is expected to leave Guyana for the USA in early January where she will undergo five months of training in preparation for the Miss Universe pageant.
She is expected to receive $1.5M in prizes and money.