BASSTERRE, St. Kitts - TWELVE beautiful young ladies are all set and ready, and promising to "bring it" tomorrow night (Dec. 29) at the staging of the prestigious 32nd Annual Digicel Haynes Smith Caribbean Talented Teen Pageant.
At a press conference held yesterday (Dec. 27) at the St. Vincent Conference Room of the St. Kitts Marriott Hotel, the young ladies assured everyone that this would indeed be an amazing event, as they are all ready to showcase their talent and put on a great show.
Competitors vying for this year’s title are: Bailey Dukes, representing the USVI; Keivanee Lake of Anguilla; Miss Antigua & Barbuda Aaliyah Thomas; Miss Bahamas Monesha Bowleg; Miss Barbados Sacha Clarke; Miss Bermuda Shaunte Simons; Miss BVI Ashellica Fahie; Miss Grenada Kande Duncan; Miss Jamaica Aba Sykes; Miss Nevis Erica Doras; Miss St. Lucia. Kadijha Mason; and Siobhan Phipps of host country St. Kitts.
Pageant Director Antonio Maynard explained that although there are no new countries participating this year, Nevis, Bermuda and The Bahamas would be returning after being absent for some time.
He apologised to Trinidad and Tobago as well as the Dominican Republic and Guyana for not being able to include their contestants in this year's pageant due to the large amount who were already chosen to compete.
"We want to apologise to Trinidad, who have been a regular feature in this pageant. We could not accommodate them this year because of the numbers. We also want to apologise to Guyana and the Dominican Republic. Probably next year we might just go into an elimination project...," he said.
Maynard said that persons could expect a big and exciting show, as everyone is well-prepared and ready for the night's event.
Guest artiste for the night, Maynard said, would be none other than the Federation's very own - Infamus. He further said that Masud Sadiki would be opening the show with a few of his favourite selections.
Other performances for the night would be from the Classique Dance Group out of Anguilla and also one from sister isle Nevis.
When asked what they hoped to gain from this pageant if crowned queen, the contestants elucidated that they want to be a role model to young ladies across the Caribbean in helping to build their self confidence and to teach them that they could do anything once they put their mind to it.
They explained that they would also like to teach young ladies about abstinence from sex and being comfortable in their own skin.
The reigning queen, who hails from Grenada, expressed that her reign was a very quiet one, but she still managed to stay on the go.
"My year was quite quiet. However, I kept myself quite active in Grenada. I visited most of the schools and spoke to the students. I kept my bar up as youth ambassador of Grenada, and not just Grenada but most of the Caribbean too.
"I also had the opportunity to visit the British Virgin Islands, where I also visited some of the schools and had my little talks. I think carrying the title for the year in itself was an honour and I did my best, and I hope that the one to take over would do the same," she explained.
As part of the queen's prize this year, the winner and her chaperone will receive a seven-day cruise, compliments Delisle Walwyn and Kantours.
Persons will be able to text and vote for Miss Photogenic using 'P' and the area code of the contestants' country. Persons who text will get a chance to win a BlackBerry phone.
Persons can also text to predict the winner and Best Talent on the night of the show and can also win a BlackBerry. The drawings will be done on the night of show.
The show will be streamed live through ZIZ for US$15, but is only available for persons living outside of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Sponsors for the show include title sponsor Digicel, ZIZ, The Cable, Carib Brewery, Petro Caribe, Miyvue.com, eCaribbean, SKNVibes, Delisle Walwyn & Company Ltd., Tourism Authority and the government of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Contrary to what persons may have thought, the venue for the show is Carnival City and not Sugar Mill, and it is scheduled to start at 8:00 p.m.
