BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – ALTHOUGH it was filled with many hiccups, Miss Nigeria Ngozi Nicholls walked away a smiling queen and took two of the judged segments in the Miss Back To Roots Pageant held last night (Mar. 12) at Carnival Village.
Nicholls demonstrated tremendous poise and exuded lots of confidence in each of her segments to gain the judges’ nod for Best Costume, in her piece dubbed ‘Afro Carib’, and Best African Wear.
Miss Sierra Leone – Zemone Morton, who maintained an excellent performance throughout the night, landed the First Runner-up position and also took the award for Best Introductory Speech.
The name for Best Talent was not announced due to the fact that the award for that segment was not available, according to organiser of the pageant Sheila Morris.
Morris said she had informed the contestants that the award would be given to the winner for that segment when it is made available. However, that information was not announced and the audience had left with inquiring minds.
The other contestants were Miss Ghana - JoeanaMc Carty and Miss Liberia – Juliana Josephs. The fifth contestant, Miss Cameron – Patricia Clarke, did not appear on the show and there was no announcement to indicate why she did not. SKNVibes however spoke with Morris who said she was uncertain why Clarke dropped out and suggested she may had cold feet.
Last year’s queen Zionshaw Joseph was also absent from the proceedings which saw First Runner-up Jascur Hobson taking her place. Morris also could not have given a reason for Joseph’s absence.
The show was originally scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. but did not get on the way until some minutes after 9:00. And although some patrons had trickled in after it started, the turnout was poor and many of them had left due to the many pauses during the show.
According to Morris, she thought the show could have gotten more support but indicated that she believed those who attended got the historical messages delivered by the contestants in their performances.
The night saw a spectacular dance by the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College (CFBC) Dancers as well as other performances by Footsy, Pepper Ranks, H20 Dancers and Nicha B. The pageant was a fundraising event organised by the History Club of the CFBC.
The Master of Ceremonies was ‘Cuttoe’ who tried to keep the audience laughing despite the many flaws during the night.
