15 compete in Mister Grand Trinidad and Tobago pageant

The male pageant, Mister Grand TT, will take place at the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts (SAPA) on November 4. Fifteen men will represent their communities and the winner will represent Trinidad and Tobago at the international competition scheduled for SAPA on November 25.

Event organiser Suveer Ramsook was the first runner-up at the international competition in Panama in 2021.

"It was the highest placement in male pageantry from Trinidad and Tobago," Ramsook said.

"Ever since I placed as first runner-up in Panama, there has been a lot more male pageant organisations and franchises brought to Trinidad. There is more of an interest by men, because men are seeing other men taking part in pageantry, so they now have that inspiration to not feel the need to worry about the stereotypes and stigmas of male pageantry."

The participants will compete in four categories: personality wear, introductory speech, Q&A session, and formal wear. Contestants were selected over the past month and were required to state how they planned to use the Mister Grand TT platform for advocacy, in particular, changing toxic masculinity in men.

Ramsook said the candidates "would now have a platform to use their voice. Each candidate will have a campaign to advocate for. Some will advocate for mental health awareness or for self-esteem awareness or something else."

The judging panel comprises sponsors and those in the fashion and pageant business.

The 15 finalists were selected from a field of 40. They were interviewed via Zoom about their lives, experiences and how they intended to use the platform to effect change, Ramsook said. Weekly Zoom sessions focused on public speaking to improve contestants' oratory skills. Other training included enhancing their grooming, walking and general deportment.

The first in-person session featured runway walking and training. Finalists also engaged in public speaking sessions and spoken word workshops with a director from DC Shell Theatre. For fitness testing, they hiked to Maracas waterfalls.

Aaron Sookoo, 20, is representing Couva and this is his first pageant. Sookoo said he entered the competition to further his modelling career and to develop his other qualities to be the "paramount example of a man."

"I saw pageantry as a way to get that," he said.

He said the experience "is very fast-paced, a lot of balance, time management. You want to be your best so you focus on training, reading, going to the gym and meditation to keep your mind calm.

"A lot of men view pageantry in a bad light. I was one of them. But, that is because we had a wrong perspective on it, we didn't understand it fully. Only when Suveer went up for his pageant, that we really get a view about how it really was. That is something I want to change, because pageantry in TT, really is a form of self-development for young men. I would really encourage others to get into it."

For Fyzabad candidate Sean Paul this is his fifth pageant. He won Mr Universe TT in 2020 and represented TT virtually at Mr Glam International in 2021, placing ninth.

Paul said, "Thus far, Mister Grand TT has been one of the most fulfilling pageants because of the recognition and because of the trademark Suveer left. It is easier to gravitate towards an audience in TT.

"There is a lot of stigma that comes with male pageantry and this cohort is one of the strongest ones that, I would say, breaks the stereotype of toxic masculinity."