BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IT was the tears of joy of Miss Ghana, Lesana Liburd, that had a crowd of supporters applauding as she enjoyed her first moment as Miss Back to Roots 2014 on Saturday night (Mar 8).
Although the show kicked off to a late start, four of the five beauties took the stage in an opening number (fanfare), accompanied by four strong men as they danced to the sounds drums and African rhythms.
An official from the pageant explained that Ann Marie Ohena, Miss Sierra Leone had dropped out of the competition, but, it is unclear as to her reason for the last minute decision.
Creative wear segment
In this segment, the royal empresses were tasked with creating a complete costume or outfit using biodegradable material.
The queen and also winner of the creative wear segment, in her costume bolted out from the starting the blocks with what appeared to be a golden eagle, made out of paper bag material; sprayed with gold paint.
Miss Liberia, Louvina James in her design modeled a couture dress made of environmentally-friendly materials such as news paper and magazines. Accompanied by custom-designed shoes, James also wore accessories made of the similar material.
Miss Nigeria, Natalee Rowe’s piece dubbed ‘Essence of Nature’, was designed using paper bags which were hand cut and placed by hand to compose a mermaid-like dress. The outfit was also adorned with bamboo beads which hung from her bust area.
Miss Gambia, Xiarriah Brown, took a different approach and used Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) paper bags to make a short ballroom gown with puff sleeves. The outfit was clearly a crowd favourite as dozens of persons cheered on.
Talent segment
The talent segment was indeed a crowd favourite as the ladies displayed a different side of their personality.
Miss Liberia paid tribute to the late former president of South African, Nelson Mandela, and his fight for freedom and justice. She also danced to the song “Freedom”, originally from the 1996 movie Sarafina.
Miss Nigeria, in her very dramatic piece, depicted a young slave girl who was constantly raped and beaten by her slave master who suffered a heart attack one day whipping her while she was tied to a tree. During the four minute piece, the contestant broke free and shouted “freedom” and stood over her oppressor.
Dubbed “I believe”, Miss Ghana, in her winning dramatic piece, displayed her talent in the form of a mime. With her face painted white, white gloves and black and white strip attire, the queen depicted a woman who was behind bars who eventually was released and believed in God.
Miss Gambia, really did ‘talk de tings dem” in her dramatic piece. She featured as a business woman who made fortune off of her most important clientele, women. “Deh talking bout going back to roots and deh end up in my store shopping the longest hair”, was just one line from this piece which was the crowd favourite.
Evening wear
The night could not have ended any better than with the four beauties elegantly gracing the stage in their exquisite evening gowns all with an important meaning.
Miss Liberia, in her mermaid fitted black and gold gown designed by Karen Mathews of Gems Fashions, modeled gracefully as she showcase the African prints along with the puff sleeves and simple gold head wrap.
Miss Nigerian in her gown dubbed “Goddess of life” paid tribute to the ancestors as she modeled a gold and green couture mermaid design dress designed by Faith Benjamin. The dress also had a puffed neckline and a minor plunge at the front.
Miss Ghana in her winning blue and gold dress called “Asosa” which means blessings of God, presented the heroic courage of the army officers who serve in the Ghanaian Defense Force. Her dress was also complemented by gold accessories and flamboyant blue head wrap.
Miss Gambia, in her dress called “Queen of Gambia” modeled a ruby red mermaid dress bedazzled by sparkling beads on the top half and a gold bottom. But when the gold bottom was removed, a number of African prints were revealed.
The best introductory speech award went to Miss Gambia who also placed first runner up to Miss Ghana who was moved to tears as she was crowned Miss Back to Roots 2014. There was no interview segment during the event as that was done since last week.
The show is a product of the History Club of the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College.
