Miss Jamaica World coronation rolled back
LATER THIS year, the Miss World finals will return to London, England – a place seasoned with Caribbean heritage and a historically lucky location for Miss Jamaica World. London is the capital where Cindy Breakspeare wowed the judges and was crowned Miss World in 1976. However, Jamaicans will have to wait until September 21 to find out who will wear the Miss Jamaica title. “Last year, we had the sashing and in less than a month we were selecting the queen. We thought that we needed to give the contestants a little more time to benefit from the preparation. It’s unfair to have 16 finalists and at the end of the journey, only one person benefits from the grooming and etiquette, and all the experiences that come with the Miss Jamaica World pageant,” franchise holder Dahlia Harris told The Gleaner. As such, the coronation date was pushed back for a month to accommodate training for all the participants. “On the final night, what you will see are contestants who have been through extensive training in all areas. It also means that once we’ve selected a queen, she is 60 per cent ready to
go into the Miss World final,” Harris continued.
Scintillated as they are by the potentially providential placement of the finals in London – a city reinforced with a strong Jamaican community – Harris and fellow franchise holder, Weston Haughton, are not relying solely on luck. They are, instead, paying attention to all the elevating elements existing for both the local pageant and the international final. “One of the things that we are very impressed with, very happy about, is that our contestants this year are from all over,”Haughton shared.
Harris added:”If we’re going to pick a national representative, then women from all across Jamaica should have the opportunity to be the party selected for Miss Jamaica World. One of the things I think happened organically, was that we had Kadijah coming out of St Elizabeth and we had Solange coming out St James.
INTERESTING MIX
She continued, “Now, I think more and more ladies from outside the Corporate Area are coming forward. So we have an interesting mix. We have girls Coming out of St Thomas, St Mary, other parts of the island, and we feel that significantly.”
Prior to the crowning on September 21, the contestants will participate in a number of Fast-Track competitions that assure those winners a spot in the top 10. On August 15, the Fast Track Fitness competition was held at Spartan Health Club, and on August 28 the Miss Jamaica World Talent Competition is scheduled to be staged at Phoenix Theatre, Haining Road. The ladies will also compete for Miss Jamaica World Beauty and Top Model titles.
The Miss Jamaica World coronation show will be broadcast on RETV.
KOOL FM will host the Beauty With A Purpose Competition, allowing the contestants to present their select projects on air. They will also participate in a fashion challenge, sponsored by Maxie Department Store.