BASSETERRE, St Kitts - D'SHNAY YORK of St. Maarten made her nation proud in the early hours of Wednesday morning (Dec. 31) at the Sugar Mill when she was crowned the 2014 Haynes Smith Caribbean Talented Teen in what can be termed the narrowest victory in the history of this annual competition.
York, who also captured the Best Talent and Interview segments, embarked on a campaign against bullying and captured the crown ahead of Miss St. Kitts Robertine Webbe by one tenth of a point.
Webbe won the Best Theatrical Appearance and the Best Evening Wear segments to accumulate 783.7 points but was edged by York who attained 783.8 points.
York, in winning the closely-fought Talent segment, performed a monologue portraying a teenager who was a victim of bullying which had started to affect the her psyche. In the end the troubled teen hit back at her bullies and was punished because of complaints made by her intimidators.
Her performance left the crowd in stitches and it also drew tremendous applause as she left the stage.
Also giving memorable performances in the Talent segment was Miss St. Vincent and the Grenadines Lateefa Noel, who also highlighted the effects of bullying through a dance; while Miss USVI Dyese Turnbull wowed the audience with a twirling baton performance and left the crowd really amazed when she entered a black wooden box onstage on completion of her presentation. The four walls of the box then collapsed and the contestant was nowhere to be seen.
In the Interview segment, when questioned about the effects of bullying on teenagers, York gave a smart answer which ended with her making a plea to the audience to stand up against bullying.
Each of the 10 contestants had a good showing in the Evening Wear segment but it was Miss St. Kitts who earned the judges’ nod in her pink fluffy dress that almost emulated cotton candy.
In making the announcement of the winners, Jason Davis, the event’s co-host, declared that the results of the completion had been really close.
He announced that the Third Runner-up was Miss St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Lateefa Noel, who had a total of 715.1 points; while Miss USVI Dyese Turnbull was adjudged Second Runner-up with 755.3 points.
The co-host then shocked the audience when he announced the 0.1-point difference between the First Runner-up and the winner.
Davis’ co-host was comedian Fatman George of Grenada, who on several occasions had the large audience in hysterics with his wide array of jokes, ranging from politics to his early days in school.
Also performing on the show were Nicha B, CFBC Dance Ensemble and KC5.
