Dellimore is new Miss SVG 2008

J. Soso-Vincent 06.JUNE.08

All nine contestants in the Miss SVG 2008 pageant spoke, performed, sashayed and posed as if their lives depended on it. However, there could only be one winner, and Ronique Dellimore – Miss Darcheville Construction Ltd. – made sure the crown was hers for the taking.{{more}}

In addition to scooping the top prize of an $80,000 scholarship to the University of the West Indies and $8,000 in cash, Dellimore won the Best Swimwear and Best Evening Gown awards. She profusely thanked her family, chaperone, sponsors and the Beauty Shows Committee for facilitating her successful participation in the show.

She will represent St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Miss Carival show taking place on July 4th, and promises to have a lot more in store for her supporters. “Expect more than what you got tonight!” She hopes to embark upon her degree in Management Studies next year, although she joked about beginning her degree after she wins the Miss Carival and Miss Universe competitions.

Nekesha Adams, Miss Lotto and Jolene Toney, Miss Mustique Company Ltd. had to settle for first and second runners up, respectively. Adams won $5,000 and the titles of Best Talent and Miss Photogenic, whilst Toney bagged $3,000, Best Interview, Miss Community Spirited and bMobile’s Texter’s Choice. Latoya Lewis, Miss Super 6 received the award of Miss Congeniality.

Startled faces littered the crowd as the show began promptly at 8 p.m.: something that has not occurred in quite some time. It was apparent that the Carnival Development Corporation (CDC) made a concerted effort, this year, to raise the quality and flow of the show. As promised, there were fewer guest artistes and significantly fewer pauses in between the contestants’ appearances, which gave the show a crisp, professional feel.

The contestants were judged in the sections of Swimwear, Talent, Evening Gown and Interview by a panel, headed by Ali Mejahed, and which included Petronella Sylvester, Theresa Daniel, Richard Munroe and Jennifer Glasgow-Browne.

The talent section was of a particularly improved, and somewhat varied, standard. Nekesha Adams’ sung performance, ‘The pursuit of dreams’, was well executed with a charming use of stage props and background singers. Clearly a talented singer, Adams’ vocal chords echoed throughout the park and earned her wild cheers from the crowd. Ronique Dellimore made a dramatic performance, entitled ‘Long flight to freedom’, about an enslaved African girl. Dellimore displayed an apt use of expression and conviction that, coupled with dramatic drumming and appropriate dance moves, produced a meaningful act. Shanel Nanton also gave a sung performance, ‘The Fool’, which earned her a huge crowd response. Her vocal ability was a huge improvement on her performance at the Miss Unity Youth competition. Following a long pause at the beginning, Latoya Lewis delivered a slightly off-key song, ‘Gem of the Antilles’, which extolled the virtues of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Emmelin John and Shanel Greene gave rather disappointing performances. John gave a Michael Jackson dance impersonation, “I had a dream”, which earmarked her as the only contestant to be booed (in the talent segment), whilst Greene gave a monologue and dance combination, ‘The patriot’, that did nothing more than showcase her radio voice. In her sung performance, entitled ‘An entertainer’, Tamisha Nichols delivered a medley of soca songs, including her own release from 2007. It was an energetic, if somewhat unimaginative, performance complete with fireworks being released at the end. Jolene Toney’s performance, ‘Only time will tell’, was undoubtedly the most anticipated as the crowd was chanting her name long before she stepped onto the stage. Toney played the violin accompanied by a dance routine by 4 members of the Avenue Dance Juniors group, who clearly stole the show from her. Karen Whiskey sang a rendition of the song ‘Bleeding love’. Her performance, ‘Believe in love’ received an injection of spice when Godwin Charles, of Face of Shabeau fame, took to the stage to play Whiskey’s love interest.

The one disappointment of the show was the interview segment. Despite giving generally satisfactory replies, none of the contestants truly stood out. A few of the contestants made errors in their speeches, but thankfully none of those errors were on the level of the ‘global warming’ comment given by one of last year’s contestants.

Mid-show entertainment was provided by La Gracia dance group, calypsonians Sulle and Vibrating Scakes and soca artistes Zoelah and Skarpyon.