BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – DUE to the unprecedented tie for the crown at the 2009 Digicel Haynes-Smith Miss Caribbean Talented Teen Pageant between Miss St. Kitts-Nevis and Miss St. Lucia, the pageant’s organisers have implemented a tie-break policy.
At a press conference held Tuesday afternoon (Nov. 23) at ZIZ Broadcasting Television Studio, the Haynes Smith Caribbean Pageant committee announced that this year’s and future events would never have to crown two teenagers as was seen in last year’s competition.
At last year’s competition patrons were left bewildered when, for the first time in its 30-year history, judges of the Annual Digicel Haynes Smith Miss Caribbean Talented Teen Pageant were stumped, as two contestants tied for first place and both had to be crowned.
The historic event took place on the evening of December 30 at Carnival Village, where St. Kitts and Nevis’ Berriscia Byron and Consuelo Dupal of St. Lucia both scored 731.5 points to lay claim to the coveted title.
The pageant organisers said they did not have a tie-break policy stipulated in their rules and therefore had no choice but to crown both teenagers.
However, according to Akilah Byron-Nisbett, Contestant and Activities Coordinator, there is no way there would be another tie in the pageant after the policy is implemented.
The policy states: (1) There shall be no ties for any position, including the winning queen position or any other segment; (2) If there is a tie for any final position, then the scored performance of the tied contestants in the most important part of the show (the section with the highest points) will be considered, and applied. (3) If there is a clear winner in that segment for the contestant involved, then the contestant will be deemed the winner; (4) If there is a tie in points for the section which carries the most points, then the contestant with the majority of the judges scoring in her favor will be deemed the winner; (5) If there is still a tie, then the next most important segment in terms of points will be considered, and applied, and the same procedure as previously stated (2-4) will be followed through to the least important segment of the show until the winner is determined; and (6) If all of the above fails to separate the tied contestants, then the available judges will be asked to select the winner with the head judge having a casting vote in the event of a deadlock among the judges.
The tie-break policy also has a stipulation for segment winners and, according to Nisbett, the entire tie-break policy could be viewed on their website www.caribbeantalentedteens.com Title sponsor Digicel also reaffirmed its commitment to the pageant when Marketing Executive Genieve Hanley handed over an EC$37,000 cheque to the Chairman and Executive Director of
the pageant, Antonio Maynard.
Hanley said Digicel is keen on lending its support to the Haynes Smith Pageant and to be a partner with a pageant that brings the people together in a great way.
“We’re glad to be a part of this pageant that brings people together. We’re all for Caribbean integration and I would like to commend the organising pageant for bringing a new exciting pageant every year, and we’re looking forward to partnering with them for many years to come,” she said.
Remarks were made by Maynard, who said that the Haynes Smith Youth Club is once again proud to be launching its 31st edition of the Caribbean’s most prestigious pageant.
He said the pageant would be held on Thursday, December 30 at 8:00 p.m. and is expected to be the biggest and best produced show for the carnival season, living up to its usually high standard in delivering spectacular stage productions, impeccable execution and breath-taking world class performances.
“We have confirmed 12 beautiful, intelligent and very talented young ladies, representing their various countries from across the region,” he said.
Maynard said they were proud to continue their long-lasting and fruitful relationship with Digicel, noting that the mobile communications provider has been their partner for over five years and they intend to embrace this mutually beneficial partnership for a very long time to
come.
He noted that the principal objective of the pageant is to showcase Caribbean Culture and promote regional integration among Caribbean youths while communicating meaningful social and education issues through the performing arts, and at the same contributing towards community development with the funds raised from the annual event.
He declared that for 2010 they were able to commit around $7 000 to different community based organisations and individuals.
Maynard also announced the launch of their texting competition, whereby the general public is invited to vote via SMS Text message for the contestants in this year’s pageant.
Persons can text to vote for the Miss Photogenic and also who they think will win the pageant on the night of the show.
Contestants of the 12 participating countries are: Miss Anguilla, 16-year-old Chelsey Hughes; Miss Antigua & Barbuda, 16-year-old Trevorlyn Sheppard; Miss Barbados 18-year-old Danika Haynes; Miss BVI, 16-year-old Sylvanna Charles; Miss Dominican Republic, 17-year-old Birdalina Trinidad; Miss Grenada, Nandy Noel, 17 years old; Miss Guyana; Miss Jamaica, 18-year-old Chanike Russell; Miss St. Kitts, 16-year-old Zinga Imo; Miss St. Lucia, 17-year-old Racquel John; Miss St. Thomas, 17-year-old Tianna Jeremy; and Miss Trinidad & Tobago, 17-year-old Kerry-Ann Sealy.
St. Kitts’ reigning Miss Talented Teen, Zinga Imo was present at the press conference and said she was excited about participating in the upcoming pageant.
Imo said she has been working very hard in terms of preparation for the event and is proud to represent her country.
The press conference was chaired by Diana Willimas-Humphreys, a member of the Contestants and Activities Sub-committee of the pageant.
