BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE winner of the Miss World St. Kitts-Nevis Pageant, Venetta Zakers says she does not know if she will be competing in the prestigious Miss World Pageant in Johannesburg, South Africa come Saturday, December 12.
Twenty-three-year-old Zakers won the title of Miss World St. Kitts-Nevis on Saturday, March 7 at the St. Kitts Marriott Dome.
The inaugural Miss World St. Kitts-Nevis Pageant was held during the St. Kitts Fashion Weekend, an event that seeks to expose St. Kitts to prominent international and regional players in the fashion industry.
Eversley Liburd, the organizer of the Fashion Weekend, also organized the Miss World St. Kitts-Nevis Pageant. Last year, Liburd obtained the franchise for the Miss World St. Kitts-Nevis Pageant from Miss World Limited, the international pageant organization.
This is the first time in recent memory that a contestant from St. Kitts is preparing for the Miss World Pageant.
She is basically controlled by the franchise holder
SKNVibes spoke with Daniel Seebarn, who is the assistant and public relations officer for Michael Raghunanan, the franchise holder for the Miss World Trinidad and Tobago Pageant.
Seebarn informed SKNVibes that this is Raghunanan’s first year hosting the pageant, as it used to be organized by Trinidadian designer Peter Elias, the former Miss World franchise holder for Trinidad & Tobago.
He said, seeing that it is Raghunanan’s first year as the franchise holder, his boss is undergoing a probation period set by the Miss World Organization. According to Seebarn, in December, the Miss World Organization will evaluate the franchise holder’s organization of the local pageant as well as the performance of the local contestant in South Africa.
Seebarn also said that Miss World has waived the franchise fee for Raghunanan because this is his first year holding the franchise.
“After the pageant in December, the one-year contract will be up and we will be reviewed by the Miss World Organization on how well we did,” Seebarn said. “Then we will have to pay a fee.”
He also said the franchise holder is responsible for hosting a local competition and selecting a winner and that the franchise holder is responsible for training the winner of the local pageant, in all aspects of preparing her for South Africa. Seebarn said that Raghunanan, the franchise holder for Miss World Trinidad and Tobago, will require that the winner signs a contract, giving him the right to her images, such as those that appear on Facebook. The winner will also permit Raghunanan and his local team to access her Facebook account. Using Facebook, they look for potentially inappropriate pictures that her friends may have tagged her in on the online social network.
The Miss World Trinidad and Tobago Pageant will be held on Monday, September 28.
Raghunanan’s assistant and PRO said that the winner must attend the gym consistently in order to maintain a desired level of fitness for the Miss World International Pageant, which showcases contestants in swimwear. Seebarn added that the winner cannot use her title to represent any other organization, other than what is stipulated by the franchise holder and the Miss World Organization.
“She is basically controlled by the franchise holder,” Seebarn said.
He also said that the franchise holder has placed restrictions on the type of companies that can sponsor the contestants. For instance, alcohol and tobacco companies are not permitted to sponsor the ladies.
Less than one month after Venetta Zakers won the Miss World St. Kitts-Nevis Pageant, Eversley Liburd gave her a wholehearted endorsement in a Wednesday, April 1 email to SKNVibes.
Liburd, the franchise holder for the Miss World St. Kitts-Nevis Pageant, wrote: “Venetta has to go to South Africa, and it is going to take a lot. So come hell or high water, Miss Zakers will be in South Africa in December where she will stay for a whole month.”
Now five months later, his professional relationship with Zakers has taken an interesting turn.
Zakers told SKNVibes in an exclusive interview that she is not sure if she would be participating in the Miss World Pageant this year.
Speaking with Zakers and Liburd, SKNVibes found that they are playing the blame game over a number of issues and also avoiding the bottom line, which is what it will take for Zakers to get to Miss World.
A number of issues have arisen since the March 7 pageant.
Firstly, somewhere along the lines, communication between both parties seemed to dwindle further as each party complained that the other was not communicating.
Zakers said that, as far as she knows, no sponsorship funds have been collected on her behalf to help with her journey this December.
“After the show, for about three weeks to a month, we didn’t hear anything from him,” Zakers said. “Then we heard from him, where he said the [Miss World St. Kitts-Nevis] show had its hiccups and he needed sometime to redeem himself; since then nothing,” she added.
“I won the competition and received nothing,” Zakers continued. “My chaperone [Gloria Esdaille] is the one who has been doing everything. She got me a sash. All I won was the crown and a cellular phone from Digicel,” she said.
On the other hand, Liburd said that he had been communicating with both Zakers and her chaperone.
For instance, Liburd said that he e-mailed a contract from the Miss World Organization to Zakers, whom he asked to print and sign then send it back to him via Federal Express. Liburd said he told her to return the contract by early May, and to this date he has not received it.
According to Zakers, she did not return the contract straightaway via Fed Ex because Liburd had not sent any funds for her to do so.
“We asked him how he was going to get it back because he was not sending any funds,” Zakers said. “We do not have any sponsorship, but he is making demands,” she added.
Zakers said her chaperone Gloria Esdaille also put together a plan that she felt would best assist her in preparing for the Miss World Pageant.
The plan touched on the importance of going to the gym and having sessions facilitated by Val Henry, the owner of VH Communications, to hone her interviewing and speaking skills.
“He [Liburd] was supposed to provide funds for these, or at least get people to agree to doing them,” Zakers said. “He has not responded,” she added.
Zakers said that she is frustrated and tired of Liburd, who she says is giving persons the impression that he is making progress when nothing is happening.
“We expected the show [the Miss World St. Kitts-Nevis Pageant] to be of high standards even though that didn’t happen,” Zakers said. I expected more of an improvement and him trying to redeem himself after. I didn’t win anything, but I’m still willing to go on and represent my country,” she added.
She said the pageant provided her with several opportunities.
“I saw it as a platform where I could raise certain issues in the Caribbean and even in my country,” Zakers said.
“It’s an opportunity for me to go out and show what St. Kitts and Nevis has to offer,” she continued, adding that, “I saw it as an opportunity. I love modeling, and the pageant is about beauty with a purpose and you can even get a modeling contract. So the opportunities surrounding it are endless.”
Eversley’s Side of the Story
Liburd who resides in New York City said that he received an e-mail from Julie ‘Lexy’ Brooks of VIP Connected upon his return to the US from the Miss World St. Kitts-Nevis Pageant. VIP Connected is a booking agency and entertainment PR firm based in New York City.
He said Brooks informed him that she had made Zakers a spokesperson for her organization.
Zakers, who also won the Miss Silver Jubilee Independence Pageant in September 2008, had impressed Brooks when the owner of the PR firm served as a judge for the Independence show. So shortly after, Brooks made Zakers a Global Goodwill Ambassador and Spokesperson for The Caribbean All-Star Student (CAS). VIP Connected developed the non-profit organization CAS to give back to the community.
The Caribbean All-Star Student (CAS) is a non-profit organization that VIP Connected developed to give back to the community. For instance, CAS organizes a well-received essay writing competition for students who vie for the chance to visit New York City.
Although CAS is a worthy organization, Liburd was angered by Zakers’ involvement. It appears as though this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Liburd and Brooks apparently have had a strained professional relationship dating back to 2003, as documented in e-mail correspondence that Liburd sent to SKNVibes.
“As the franchise holder of Miss World [St. Kitts-Nevis], no one gave me the chance to decide with Venetta what her platform will be,” said Liburd. “I informed Venetta that I wanted to have nothing to do with Lexy as she was only seeking mileage for her organization,” he added.
A contestant of the Miss World St. Kitts-Nevis Pageant said the contestants were informed verbally that they would not be allowed to represent any organization while they prepared for the local pageant. However, she said the organizer never made the contestants sign a contract on the matter.
On March 24 – just two weeks after Zakers won the Miss World St. Kitts-Nevis crown – she sent an e-mail response to Liburd that he forwarded to SKNVibes. In Zakers’ e-mail, she stated that her involvement with CAS Global will not change. Zakers added that she wanted to have the opportunity to do something meaningful for the youths in the Caribbean.
“And moreover, because I have a story to tell and I can relate to some of the challenges faced by them,” Zakers wrote in the e-mail, adding that, “I had three brothers; now I have two. I need not say anymore.” She was referring to the murder of her brother last year.
In her e-mail to Liburd, she also said that if she were to be stripped of her crown then so be it. Zakers added that Liburd was free to contact the first runner-up as well as the media.
However, Liburd has not contacted this media house concerning the dethroning of Zakers.
All of this is a strange turn of events, considering that Liburd told SKNVibes that Zakers – immediately after winning the pageant – wrote him a ‘thank you’ letter that warmed his heart.
“I decided there and then to do all in my power to get her to South Africa,” he said. “Many of my friends here in New York planned to help me. [The plan was that] She would come to NY during the summer and be trained to handle the pressure in South Africa, not to mention that kind of pageant,” Liburd added.
Overnight Diva
Liburd claims that Zakers has turned into a Diva overnight.
“I am on her MSN, and she would come online and would not say a word unless I said ‘hello’,” he said. “When I did, she would reply to me as ‘Mr. Liburd’. She did not exhibit friendship and would not keep up any talk, not a word,” Liburd added.
Liburd said that he received a call recently from someone who addressed herself as ‘Miss Zakers’.
“She wanted to know when she was leaving for South Africa,” he said, adding that, “I told her I do not know. She was very rude, saying that they [she and her chaperone] did mail the contract. I hung up the phone, as I have not received any as yet.”
Barbados
Liburd said he also lost confidence in Zakers back in May when she went to Barbados. “I got her to make an appearance in Barbados at the Caribbean Fashion Awards to present an award and to also get familiar with the media, press, etc,” Liburd said.
“She was the house guest of my dear friend Pat Blackman,” he said, adding that, “She went to Barbados and had nothing nice to say about me. She was most embarrassing, not engaging in intelligent conversations, and just went to the show as a "rent a crowd". She was ignored and Pat was very upset with her behaviour. We informed her chaperone about her behavior and nothing changed.”
Zakers said that her appearance in Barbados was not organized properly. She added that the organizer of the Caribbean Fashion Awards seemed to have no clue that she was there in Barbados and was scheduled to make a presentation.
“What I was sent there to do never happened,” she said.
St. Kitts & Nevis will not be going with over 100 other nations to take part in Miss World
Liburd told SKNVibes that he is no longer committed to sending Zakers to represent the Federation at the Miss World Pageant in South Africa.
“I cannot send her to embarrass our Federation, and because of the frustration I have decided not to send anyone this year,” Liburd said. “Next year, I will have a boutique show and
select a young lady.”
Digicel remains committed to assisting Zakers.
In speaking with Sharez Laws, Marketing Manager at Digicel [St. Kitts-Nevis], SKNVibes learnt that the company has fulfilled its sponsorship commitment to the local pageant by providing the contestants with cellular phones and the Queen [Zakers] with a Blackberry.
“We told her [Zakers] that we would help her, and she knows that she can come to us if she needs assistance,” Laws said.
SKNVibes contacted the Miss World Organization yesterday, Wednesday, September 8 for a comment.
In an e-mail response, a Miss World representative said that, “The information from our License Holder is sadly St Kitts & Nevis will not be going with over 100 other nations to take part in Miss World in South Africa. This is all we have heard. Our License Holder is Eversley Liburd.”
