Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
Miss Jamaica Universe 2008, April Jackson.
Chester Francis-Jackson, Contributor
Well my dears, it was easily one of the most anticipated beauty pageants to be staged in the nation's capital. And with 25 contestants, picking a winner was never going to be an easy task. Add to the task of selecting a beauty from the stellar line-up of contestants, one of hip hop's hottest crossover acts, and you know we are talking the promise of a sensational show. Well, my daahlings, the show held all the promise of a melodramatic event, and for those in attendance on Saturday, April 12, for the crowning of Miss Jamaica Universe 2008, dearhearts, it was all there and then some!
Now, pity the poor judges, as the audience sees their task being to please them. The National Indoor Sport Centre was crammed with people and every one of them vociferous supporters of their particular contestant. And in reality, there is that aspect of it too, as well as that as rising above the parochial expectations to actually identify a contestant who is competitive on the world stage.
Interactive event
For those in the know, beauty contests here in Kingston are not your average spectator sport, as here these events are more interactive with spectators (more often than not being family members and/or close friends of the contestants). They keep the stock of their favoured contestant high while holding down that of her opponents with boos or loud disparaging comments about others. At appropriate moments they boo or cheer loudly.
The now common refrain at beauty pageants is that of accusing the judges and organisers of cooking the scores whenever a preferred contestant is not the chosen one. To be sure, sometimes the judges do get it wrong, but to impugn motives based on ethnicity has become the all too tired refuge of sore losers and/or their supporters.
And so it is was, my dears, at the coronation of Miss Jamaica Universe 2008.
A night of superlatives, beauty, political, diplomatic, reggae and media stars, plus countless other personalities, and it made for one fabulous spectacle.
Saturday night to remember
My daahlings, it was a Saturday night to remember with a spectacular opening number by the venerated dance ensemble ASHE; noteworthy performance by the budding group A20s; the presentation of the contestants in their gowns and swimwear and a spectacularly smashing performance by the strutting, sensationally so, Keyshia Cole, that brought the house to its feet. The show and concert lived up to its billing as one of the most exciting beauty pageants hosted anywhere in Jamaica, in recent memory.
My dears, the show ran smoothly for the most part, except for the security lapse that saw a number of patrons rushing from their allotted stations to the front of the stage, rudely blocking the VIP and judges, as well as the patrons in the VIP sections.
In fact, my dears, Cole's performance all but eclipsed the crowning of the new queen, which should have been the night's highlight. And, my dears, it all but did, save and except for the bruising upset caused by the judges in adjudication. Law and economics student April Jackson had thrashed crowd favourites Doneika Plowright (second) and Rebecca Silvera (third) to emerge winner, but boos and hissy fits accompanied her crowning.
notables
Among the notables out were: Minister of Transport and Works Mike Henry and wife, the lovely Dawn Chambers Henry; Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports Olivia Grange; Allie McNab; MP Dr Laurie Broderick; MP Peter Bunting; head of the EU delegation, His Excellency Ambassador Marco Mazzocchi-Alemanni; HE Russian Ambassador Viktor Zotin; Pulse founding director Hillary Phillips; World Wise CEO Noel Strachan and his wife Judy; Honorary Consul of Slovakia Chris Issa; Honorary Consul of Ecuador Clelia Barreto de Hunter; Professor Dr Carolyn Cooper; Marjorie Cobbham; Desmond Allen; Dr David McBean; businessman Lachu Ramchandani, the lovely Hortense Waul, in from Connecticut; businessman Dwight Moore and wife Sharon Millwood Moore; Mickey Hill; Pat Daley-Smith of KPMG; Danny Champagnie; attorney Denise Kitson; Carlos MaxBrown; Ken Williams, from Carib Media (NY); Sharon Beckford; Dr Lloyd Cole; Richie Stephens and his wife Bernadette; David Annakie; Paul Alexander and wife Sandy Chue-Alexander.
We also spotted: publisher Douglas Gordon; Kim Bernard of sponsors BMW; Gymkhana's Peter Morris; artist/chef Mark Cameron; Olympian Brigitte Foster-Hylton; Duane Lue-Fung; TV host Winford Williams, his fabulous colleague Amelia 'Milk' Sewell, also out and looking positively fab; the artist manager extraordinaire Robert Livingston; international singing sensation Shaggy; Sean Paul; Anthony B; Assassin; Christopher Martin; Sharon Burke; Patrick Cawley; Althea Laing; former dancehall queen Carlene Smith; Angelie Martin Spencer and Sonya Hughes; Steven Pottinger; Jaunel McKenzie; the super-hot Carla Campbell; Nadine Willis; DJ Leftside; Sean Lyn of The Quad; Robert Collins; Juanito Beckford; D'Angel; Andre Grange; Michael Goulbourne.
Judges were: former cricketer turned broadcaster Maurice Foster, businesswoman/artist Lois Sherwood, curator Gilou Bauer, former model Kimberley Mais-Issa, marketing executive Natalie St Louis, the lovely architect Michelle Hall-Subaran, and business executive and senior judge, E. George Hosang.
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com
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