GUYANA and Barbados staged a joint bid to host the 2007 Miss Universe Pageant, and Guyana's girl to this year's event, Odessa Phillips, represented her country flawlessly at the June 1 event held in Quito, Ecuador.
This was according to pageant franchise holder Odinga Lumumba.
Mr. Lumumba spoke at a press conference at Water Chris Hotel yesterday, upon his return from Ecuador where he led a delegation to the Miss Universe 2004 contest.
"I personally thought her participation was flawless," explained Mr. Lummba. "She talked with the press, chaperons, and people always wanted photographs of Odessa."
According to Mr. Lumumba, Guyana should be proud of its delegate since she showcased the country well.
Odessa shared Mr. Lumumba's sentiments about her performance and described her experience as "great and exhilarating."
"The experience was great, I learnt a lot, I think my performance was flawless; but every country has its time," she said.
Mr. Lumumba also pointed out that Guyana had one of the largest foreign delegations, some 19 persons, which is very unique at the pageant, which had one of the largest turnouts ever -- over 7,000 persons.
He said the Caribbean did extremely well at the pageant, and this part of the Universe was well represented.
Apart from Guyana, there were delegates from Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Dominica Republic, Antigua and Bermuda, and Barbados.
Ms. Phillips told the media that she did everything to gain the attention of the press and impress the Ecuadorian people and so in that regard, she feels excellent about her performance.
She urged the person following in her footsteps to be truly satisfied with how she looks and feel both on the outside and inside and be respectful, since she would not only be representing herself and her family but also Guyana as a whole.
What's next for Odessa? She plans to begin Law School in September, will be hosting a Miss Region Three Pageant, educating the Guyanese public on HIV/AIDS and working with the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) and GuyEnterprise on solid waste management, which was her platform at the recently concluded pageant.
Ms. Phillips is also considering being part of the recruiting committee for Miss Guyana Universe 2005, since according to her she has been there and has gotten an insight into what the delegate should know and be like.