BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – FROM amongst a bevy of the most beautiful and intelligent teenagers in the region, Nandy Noel of Grenada was adjudged winner of the 2010-2011 Miss Caribbean Talented Teen shortly before 1:00 this morning (Dec. 31) at the Warner Park Sugar Mill.
Although the 17-year-old spice-island Community College student amassed a total of 750 points but did not win any of the five segments, she was noticeably consistent in her presentation on every appearance and had thrilled the over 1 500 audience with her ability on the steel pan in the Talent segment.
Noel was also impressive in the Interview segment, speaking about the importance of young people being involved in extra curricula activities in order to broaden their horizon in life. She had donned a green evening gown that accentuated her beauty and received loud cheers from the audience when crowned by the Federation’s Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon. Sam Condor.
Miss Jamaica, 18-year-old Chanike Russell, took the First Runner-up spot with 728 points and copped the award for Best Talent with a scintillating dance routine that incorporated Dance Hall and Hip Hop moves, much to the delight of a very appreciative audience. She also won the award for Miss Photogenic with 1054 text votes.
The Second and Third Runners-up were St. Lucia’s Racquel John (17) with 693.5 points and 17-year-old Tianna Jeremy from St. Thomas with 677 respectively.
The judges’ decision of this year’s event had to similar twist to last year’s; in that the 16-year-old St. Kitts’ representative, Zinga Imo, did not place even after winning the Best Ambassadorial Appearance, best Production Number, Best Evening Wear and Best Interview.
Her non-placement had somewhat caused much disapproval in some sections of the audience, as their expectations were high in her taking of the crown or placing among the top three after winning four of the five judged segments.
In last year’s pageant, Miss St. Kitts and Miss St. Lucia had tied for the title but a decision was made to crown both teenagers as queens.
The other participating countries were Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Barbados , Dominican Republic, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago.
The show was also enhanced by performances from local artistes Nicha B and Peper Ranks, while the featured guest artiste, Trinidad’s Ziggy Rankin, who kept the crowd alive with his pulsating melodious voice.
Ziggy Rankin performed a number of his hits, including ‘Crush’, ‘A Give You Love’, Tired A Dis Miserable Life’ and ‘Another One Gone Again’.
Members of the Klassique Acadamy of Dance, who are not strangers to the pageant, also gave an impressive performance which the audience agreed had topped their 2009 Michael Jackson’s presentation.
A moment before the results were announced, the Haynes Smith Committee made a special award presentation to Sam Condor and his wife for their contributions to the pageant and long-standing support to the committee. The committee also presented a Digicel representative with an award for being the pageant’s title sponsor for five consecutive years.
Despite the bad weather conditions the 31st Annual Haynes Smith Talented Teen had a good turnout, but due to the inclement weather most of the attendees were seated in the stands and under tents, leaving most of the chairs to the front of the stage empty.
