BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE 33rd Annual Digicel Haynes Smith Miss Caribbean Talented Pageant was officially launched last evening (Nov.27) in the VIP Lounge of Cloud 9, located at Port Zante.
The pageant is slated to take place at on December 29 with 11 contestants taking to the stage.
Marsha Lindo-Chatterjee, the Marketing Manager of Digicel - the title sponsor - handed over a cheque in the amount of EC$37 000 to Chairman and Executive Producer of the Haynes Smith Committee, Antonio Maynard.
Among those in attendance were the reigning queen, Siobhan Phipps, and the 2012 contestants who will be representing St. Kitts and Nevis, 16-year-olds Junika Berry and Kevonie Pemberton. The former will be representing St. Kitts and the latter Nevis.
Another cheque of an undisclosed figure was handed over to Maynard by Rudolph Morton on behalf of the Ministry of Tourism.
Maynard thanked Digicel for “continuing our long lasting and fruitful relationship” and expressed his Committee’s appreciation to the other sponsors and partners involved the production of the pageant.
He announced that children 16 years and under would pay a newly-discounted price of $EC35 to view the event, while others will pay the usual $EC50.
It was also announced that high school students must present their school’s identification card in order to benefit from the newly-discounted entrance fee.
Maynard encouraged the many fans from the various Caribbean countries, including those in North America and the United Kingdom, who would not be able to attend the show in person, to view the event live on www.zizonline.com.
Interested persons are however warned that a subscription fee is required for the show’s online viewing.
Maynard also revealed that the after party for the show would be at the annual Inception Fete to be held at the historic Fort Thomas Hotel Grounds in Fortlands.
Chatterjee expressed that “it’s our pleasure to be here for another time to be the title sponsors of this most amazing pageant”.
Noting the challenges being faced due to the economic climate, Chatterjee said, “I know it’s hard being a part of everything but, at Digcel, we want to commit and recommit ourselves to supporting youth, education, sports and culture. So, with a talented teen (pageant) in production, I know that we will see beautiful talented ladies representing their countries and one person will walk away with the crown…”
Details for Miss Photogenic and Winner Prediction contests were also announced and the information will be provided in a subsequent article. However, as part of the Miss Photogenic competition, Facebook fans on the ‘CaribbeanTalentedTeen’ page are asked to ‘Like’ their favourite contestant’s photo - as many have already done.
The other contestants of the pageant are: Miss Anguilla - Dwayniqua Baird (16); Miss Bahamas - Jayme Pinde (16); Miss Jamaica - Kabrena Robinson (17); Miss St. Lucia - Shartoya Jn Baptiste (17); Miss Trinidad and Tobago - Clara Barker (17); Miss St. Croix - Aniah N. John (14); Miss Barbados - Zhané Padmore (18); Miss BVI - Kamyce Penn (18); and 16-year-old Miss Grenada Melissa DeAllie.
Other major sponsors of the pageant are: The St. Kitts Ministry of Tourism through its partners Urban Corporation Development and Frigate Bay Corporation; Petro Caribe; SKNVibes.com; Cable TV (Silver sponsor); ZIZ Broadcasting Corporation (Gold sponsor); eCaribbean Ltd.; Miyvue.com; St. Kitts/Nevis Carib Breweries Ltd.; and the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Sketch Promotions, a newly-formed event planning and services company, has also partnered with the Haynes Smith Committee.
A cocktail reception had followed last evening’s event.
