ALL hands were huddled in a loose semicircle around the main speaker.

Suggestions were flying back and forth. There was a meeting in progress.

Suddenly, the door creaked.......

And in walked this immaculately turned out, sylphlike beauty, flashing her trademark toothy grin.

The ensuing silence was palpable.

It's something she's beginning to get used to, says 21-year-old Odessa Phillips, a budding corporate lawyer and consummate environmentalist who took the coveted Miss Guyana Universe 2004 title three Saturday nights ago at the National Cultural Centre in yet another controversial but arguably the best-organised ever beauty pageant in recent times in terms of stage presentation.

Speaking with the Sunday Chronicle at its Lama Avenue Bel Air Park offices mid-afternoon Wednesday where the foregoing saga unfolded, Phillips said her appearance at the annual Kashif and Shanghai Football Tournament in Linden some Friday nights ago, for instance, had a somewhat similar effect on patrons assembled there even if they were a bit more vocal in their response.

Wearing the barest minimum of makeup and looking the picture of elegance in a figure-hugging, earth-toned, lycra mini dress that more than did justice to her stunning figure, Odessa said that people have been generally responsive to the idea that she is the new Miss Guyana Universe in spite of the dissent in some quarters, and this has certainly helped boost her confidence.

"When I receive good responses like that," the leggy West Demerarian who likes to thinks of herself as "very outgoing" said, "it makes me feel more positive about how I see myself."

As to how close friends and relatives took the news that she had won yet another internationally-acclaimed pageant, Odessa, who only recently ceded the Miss Guyana World title to her successor, Alexis Glasgow, said the calls were so numerous she could hardly keep track of them.

On the last occasion, she said, it was her sister who had taken those congratulatory messages because she, Odessa, had had to overnight in Georgetown, and she had told her subsequently that she had received a total of 250. This time around, however, she was there in person to receive them all.

Mom, Barbara, had travelled to Georgetown to be at her side and had even left her 'cell-phone' on so that her dad, who is away on business, could hear when the final announcement was made.

Needless to say, he was beside himself with excitement when the results came in and he heard that his little girl had done it again, as it was he who had been like the proverbial thorn in her side in the first place to enter this pageant. Her mom, on the other hand, who does not show emotion easily, was her usual calm self.

As for the people in her little village of Vergenoegen, way down on the East Bank of Essequibo, Odessa said they were all for giving her the royal treatment, motorcade and all, but franchise holder, Odinga Lumumba said `no'. He wants to do it properly; to involve the Region at the administrative level.

Asked what she thought of the local leg of the pageant now that it was all behind her, Odessa said she cannot fault it, particularly the way it is organised, since, from the little experience she has had of such matters, it certainly does measure up to international standards.

"It felt just like Miss World; as if I was at the international pageant; the way Mr. Lumumba organised certain activities for us to do; how they took care of us...the meals ...everything. I think it was a good show." she said.

Meanwhile, it's back to the gym for her, beginning that very morning, Lumumba said Thursday. She is also scheduled to leave in another two weeks or so for New York and Washington DC in which latter city she will link up with principal trainer, the internationally-acclaimed Omarosa Stallwort, to commence training and preparation for the 'big event' billed for sometime in May or June in Quito, Ecuador, right here in South America.

As part of her strict training regime, Lumumba said, Odessa will be making the rounds of the New York fashion scene where it is hoped that she will pick up such invaluable tips as how to work the catwalk to her advantage, and master what Guyanese, Robert Dover - who was instrumental in training her predecessor, Leanna Damond, and with whom she will also be working closely - likes to call, 'the walk'.

Training is to be done in two phases, the first of which will probably last two weeks and entail going through the 'question and answer' sequence of the pageant in terms of learning how to deal with interviews and to be competitive.

"The idea," Lumumba said, "is for her to spend at least a week in New York before moving on to DC so as she can at least get a sense of what fashion is all about." Important too, he said, is the whole question of exposure and how best to use the international media to her advantage.

With this in mind, he said, the local franchise will be renovating its website and making every effort to get other Guyanese on board in plugging her into the various websites around the world so that people in the fashion business can see and become acquainted with our girl.

Back on the home front, plans are in train for Odessa to participate in the upcoming Mashramani, though the exact nature of this is still to be worked out. Training will most likely conclude here in Guyana with the trainers coming here to wrap things up, Lumumba said.

She has already begun to work on her platform, namely 'The Management of Solid Waste' here, with the help of 'Girl Talk's' Pat Woolford and it is likely that she will do some further research on the matter while abroad so as to widen her knowledge on the subject.

As regards her wardrobe, which is of significant importance to any contest, US-based Guyanese designer, Roger Gary, who has been making waves here of late, has been retained to do the honours with the aid of local girl, Norma Gaspar, who is Odessa's personal designer. Lumumba says he is also keen on having some input from local 'wunderkind', Derek Moore, who is no stranger to Odessa having taken her in hand and worked on her wardrobe last year for the Miss Guyana World and subsequently the Miss World pageant.

Moore will also be working on her national costume, which is mandatory, and has in fact already begun putting it together, Lumumba said.

He thinks that at least a dozen or so really good pieces is enough for her to walk with; it's no use her having a whole wash of clothes, he said. "All we need is about 12 to 14 really good, sharp pieces so that every time she goes out she makes a statement," Lumumba said.

As to how he finds working with her, he said: "I find that she is easy to work with; she doesn't complain about nothing (sic); even when the going gets tough as it can at times, and that's important."

A sentiment expressed by Derek Moore more than a year ago though from an entirely different perspective, since what he was talking about was her remarkable physique which is at best reminiscent of the svelte Morvinia Sobers, herself a former Miss Guyana Universe.

Moore had in essence said then that he had no need to wrack his brains to come up with something creative for Odessa since she already had a "a fantastic body."