Grenada pips Guyana for Miss CARICOM crown
By Tusika Martin and Tusankine English
Kaieteur News
July 12, 2004
The National Cultural Centre was the place to be Saturday evening where nine CARICOM beauty ambassadors took to the stage in their quest for the inaugural “Miss Caricom International” crown.
The ambiance had a dash of uniqueness set apart from the norms of local pageantry as this pageant transformed the venue into an example of Caribbean integration and culture.
However, the show did not start at the time specified and when it finally did, shortly before nine, Miss Margarette Vieira performed a soulful rendition of the National Anthem.
Miss Grenada emerged the queen, just piping Miss Guyana in the tiebreaker in the wee hours of Sunday morning.
The random final five were Miss St Vincent, Miss Belize, Miss St Lucia, Miss Grenada and Miss Guyana. However, it was no surprise to the audience that St. Lucia made it that far since she was a crowd favourite from the start.
The resounding applauses were proof that no one disapproved of the first three. But with two others to be named, the tension mounted. Then the announcement of Miss Grenada came. When the final four names were called and Miss Guyana was not, there was silence then after a deliberate pause by the Master of Ceremonies (MC), the announcement of Miss Guyana was met with resounding shouts of approval.
The atmosphere and uproar can be compared to the jubilation that occurs in West Indies cricket after a boundary is scored from the last ball to save the game.
Miss St. Vincent was adjudged Miss Fitness and Miss Grenada, Miss Congeniality.
Question and Answer segment
One delegate remained on stage while the others were taken to a sound proof area.
Miss St Vincent, Zenobria Brito, first faced Chief Judge, Danny Glover. “As the CARICOM Queen, how would you convince young people in the fight for the eradication of HIV?” he asked.
Though naturally nervous but nonetheless confident, she began: “Well this (HIV) being my platform, I would let people know that AIDS is a preventable disease…”, then she stumbled.
Mr. Glover was very gracious and encouraged Miss Vincent to take sometime and consider her response.
In her second attempt she said, “I would encourage young people to practice safe sex, get tested and stay committed to their relationship”.
Miss Belize, Tanika Muslar was next and posited that she would visit schools in the US and Caribbean to address the root of the problem. Speaking of her platform, she said that poverty eradication would serve in eradicating HIV since poverty creates environment for the spread of HIV.
However, as she proceeded to explain, she paused and then said, “I would encourage the young people to use protection, abstain and think about what you are doing before you actually do it”.
Crowd favorite, Miss St. Lucia Portia Chery came next.
“Our youths today have a short attention span and one would have to use strategies to get their attention, to educate them that AIDS is such a plague.”
She said that young people are being constantly bombarded with ‘preaching’, which is not working.
“I would use entertainment to draw them in so that they will actually sit down and listen to the message of HIV.” The patrons went wild in support of her response.
Then it was Miss Grenada’s turn, and with the positive energy and some amount of calmness, she said eloquently that it would be an honour to be an ambassador for the Caribbean. “If I were chosen, I would let the young people know that AIDS is an entirely preventable disease.” She also said that she would use herself as a role model and continue to be an advocate for the prevention of HIV, an endeavour she is already involved in.
The home girl, Kaye-Anne Hall was short and to the point.
“I would be involved in AIDS awareness and encourage young people to practice safe sex because everybody does not abstain”.
Miss Guyana added that she would advocate that people cultivate strong relationships so that, “we can fight this disease together”.
The resounding approval came from the audience.
The tie-breaker
Chief Judge Danny Glover was once again sharing the podium with MC, Mondale Smith, with a tie-breaker question.
Miss Guyana was first. “Since this is the first Miss CARICOM, how can this event become a catalyst that could integrate people in the Caribbean region?”
The crowd became uneasy about the use of the word ‘catalyst’.
Mr. Glover quickly appeased them by changing ‘catalyst’ to ‘something’ and ‘integrate’ to ‘bring together’.
Nevertheless, Miss Guyana understood the meaning of the word catalyst since she used it in her answer.
She said the pageant is already a move toward integration, but this was not before she stopped to ask for a clarification. The crowd response on that occasion was mixed and somewhat cold.
It was then Miss Grenada’s turn and she captivated the crowd and judges attention despite the fact that her answer was similar to that of Guyana’s but with more depth and expression.
Miss Belize got the judges nod for second runner-up while Miss Guyana was 1st runner up.
For a section of the audience, it was a bit disappointing that Miss St. Lucia did not make it to the final three but that was over shadowed by the general approval of the queen and her runners-up.
After the announcement, a few persons in the audience started shouting, “Miss St. Lucia, you’re the queen”.
The reigning Miss Florida Caribbean 2003 who is now Miss CARICOM International said, “Now that the pageant is over I will go back to my normal life. However, at the same time I will continue with my role in educating people about HIV/AIDS and its devastating consequences.”
She added, “This pageant gave me a chance to learn about Guyana, its people and its culture, which of course is the aim of the entire pageant from the inception. Each delegate has had a chance to learn about a CARICOM country and their culture.”
“On Friday I was not very confident. Later that evening, one of my friends told me that they have a surprise for me and so they pulled a bundle of balloons from next to a post and there was my father standing. From that moment my spirit was built up and all my doubts faded,” Miss Duncan said.
Duncan is to visit all the CARICOM countries during her reign said Carol Trim Bagot, President of Cacique Promotions.
Speaking about next year’s pageant, founder of the Miss CARICOM International, Ms. Monica Sanchez said, “Next year’s pageant will be held in Suriname. We most certainly expect that one to be better since we will be having a Miss CARICOM pageant in each CARICOM country.
The winners of those individual pageants will move on to the Miss CARICOM International pageant.”