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 Anya Ayoung-Chee is T&T’s representative for the Miss Universe Pageant while Gabrielle Walcott will be the country’s beauty ambassador at the Miss World contest. At Sunday night’s Tourism Development Company (TDC)-sponsored Miss T&T Pageant, both young women won favour with a panel of adjudicators to vie for these major international titles. The event was produced and presented by the Pageant Company of T&T. Ayoung-Chee, 26, travels to Vietnam on July 15, for the Miss Universe Pageant. Three months later—in October—Walcott, 23, takes the spotlight in the Ukraine for the Miss World contest.Ayoung-Chee and Walcott formed a cast of seven sexy, elegant, gorgeous and witty young women who vied for the opportunity to represent T&T overseas. Makeda O’Neal, 23; Sasiya Roxanne Albert, 22; Kerry-Ann Murphy, 19; Priya Chanderbally, 24; and June Lighbourne, 23, were the other five delegates who took the spotlight for the coveted titles. O’Neal was voted first runner-up for Miss World while Lightbourne holds a similar honour for the Miss Universe Pageant, according to the adjudication panel. The judges were: former Guardian editor-in-chief Dominic Kalipersad; Dale Enoch, heads of news at i95.5FM; former Miss World Giselle La Ronde-West; Yvonne Popplewell; Jeneile Mc Carthy-Sinanan and Bobby Ackbarali. Their decisions were announced at the end of a glitzy one hour and 45-minute production at Zen, located on Keate Street in Port-of-Spain. Hosted by former Miss World finalist Valene Maharaj and Adrian Raymond—an associate with the Pageant Company—Sunday’s event was staged before a capacity audience. They saw the bevy of beauties being judged in three categories: swimwear, evening gown and current affairs. Taking the spotlight with shoes courtesy Payless, hair styled by Bally, make-up by Sandra Hordat, swimwear by Carolina Swimwear and formal wear by Peter Elias Designs, delegates on the evening’s showcase seemed evenly matched. It was the current affairs segment, however, titled “Ripped from the headlines” that separated them, and the evening’s entertainment came alive.
The ultimate honour Honoured, proud and extremely excited was how Anya Ayoung-Chee described the decision by the panel of judges to award her the title of Miss T&T Universe. “I went blank...I was speechless when they called my name. When I realised it was real, I didn’t know what to think. It was a complete shock. It’s an unparalled experience for any young woman in T&T to represent her country.” Miss T&T Universe Anya Ayoung-Chee went through a heart-wrenching loss nine months ago. She lost her 18-year-old brother Pilar in a four-car smash-up in May last year. The accident also took the lives of his three friends. This, she said, was one of the reasons she entered the Miss T&T competition. “(His death) was a life-changing experience and I felt that if I entered, I would be living his life through this. “He had an incredible spirit…he would know that I did it for the right reasons,” Ayoung-Chee said. She said she was immensely proud and privileged to have won the competition. “It is the ultimate honour,” she said. Ayoung-Chee said she expected the next five months to be very productive. In July, Ayoung-Chee would travel to Vietnam where she would vie for the Miss Universe title. She said her victory had come at an important time in her family’s lives as it was nine months to the day since her brother died. “If I can live by the ethics that I believe in, I would live out the motto of my life,” she said. Ayoung-Chee said her boyfriend, photographer Wyatt Gallery, played an integral part in her “getting to this point.” /news.bn.gs/article.php?story=20080226105825551
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