12 vie for Miss Tobago 2024 title

TWELVE talented young women, representing communities across the island, will compete in the semi-finals of the Miss Tobago 2024 beauty pageant this evening at The Terrace – Comfort Inn & Suites Hotel, Orange Hill Road, Scarborough.

From the line-up, nine delegates will be selected to compete for the title of Miss Tobago in the finals of the pageant on February 4 at the Shaw Park Cultural Complex. It is being hosted by Coco Velvet International Fashion & Model Management.

The winner will represent the island at the Miss World TT contest in Port of Spain later this year.

The semi-finalists are: Monique Joseph (Miss Speyside); Brianna Joseph (Miss Mason Hall); Renessa Ortiz (Miss Golden Lane); Jelani Lovelace (Miss New Grange); Annaya Beard (Miss Plymouth); Renee Mc Ewen (Miss Black Rock); Jada Miller (Miss Mt Grace); Dejah Vincent (Miss Patience Hill); Jhovell Sealey (Miss Moriah); Makayla Mc Kenzie (Miss Bon Accord); Lily McKenzie (Miss Charlotteville); Dionne McKenzie (Miss Scarborough).

Coco Velvet International CEO and pageant director Christopher Nathan said patrons can expect “an afternoon of elegance, glamour and excitement as we unearth the next generation of top models and beauty queens.

“But for one special young woman, Sunday (today) is the first step toward representing Tobago at the next Miss World pageant.”

He said the judges for this evening’s pageant are Miss World 1986 Giselle La Ronde West, THA Secretary of Education, Research and Technology Zorisha Hackett and Miss World TT national franchise director Charu Lochan Dass. There will be a pre-show cocktail from 3-5pm.

A ground-breaking initiative conceptualised to provide opportunities for young women living in villages, Nathan told Sunday Newsday the preparations for the contest included personal and professional development training based on the requirements of the Miss World pageant.

Initially, he said, the young women were enrolled in Coco Velvet’s Tobago Youth Creative Arts Workshop for three months of intensive training at the Scarborough Library. The workshop was facilitated by La Ronde-West, communications practitioner Ricia Ali-Lindow among others.

Nathan, who has been involved in the local fashion industry for more than four decades, also shared his years of experience with the delegates.

He told Sunday Newsday his career in fashion began as a sales representative for TT’s first fashion magazine, You, in 1978. That same year, he trained for a professional modelling career and a year later, was signed to Finale Fashions as a male model.

Nathan then moved on to the House of Jacqui in 1986 and Mannequins Image Management in 1991. He established Coco Velvet International in 1997.

Asked about his experiences in coordinating the Miss Tobago pageant, Nathan said, “The Miss Tobago project experience has proven to me that this type of professional development is badly needed for girls and young women in Tobago, particularly so for residents living in rural communities.”

He said the delegates’ training involved deportment, grooming, hygiene, etiquette and communication skills development as it related to verbal, non-verbal, digital communication as well as public speaking programmes.

But he observed, “Most of the community delegates started the training with confidence challenges, fear of public speaking and problems managing their social media presence.”

Nathan said the facilitators, La Ronde West and Ali-Lindow, in particular, provided yeoman service to Tobago “as our delegates are now empowered to go after their career goals and aspirations.”

The pageant, he believes, can provide a platform for the Division of Tourism, Culture, Antiquities and Transportation to explore the benefits of beauty and fashion tourism, which already exists in many countries around the world.

“This tourism niche market, if developed, can attract a new market segment to Tobago.”

Nathan said once Coco Velvet international receives support from the assembly, it will host Styleweek Caribbean Carnival Arts and Fashion Festival from Ash Wednesday in Tobago, targeting the cruise market and fashionistas living in North America.

Styleweek, he said, will allow craft artisans, apparel designers and artists to exhibit and sell locally made merchandise to the visitors during a five-day arts festival at Pigeon Point Heritage Park.

But Nathan said the journey to Miss Tobago 2024 pageant has somewhat challenging.

“The whole problem with the Miss Tobago pageant was the difficulty in securing support from corporate Trinidad and Tobago and as well the Tobago House of Assembly.”

Nathan said although the THA sponsored the training for the delegates during the workshop, “Up to today (Thursday), which is just two weeks before the pageant, we have not received any funding whatsoever for the pageant itself. So that was my main difficulty.”

He said he sent out proposals to over 50 corporations, including all of the banks, energy companies and large corporations in Trinidad that would normally support Cocoa Velvet International’s fashion products and events in the past.

Nathan said he is yet to get responses.

“It seems to be that because the project is in Tobago, we have not had the support from corporate Trinidad and Tobago, which is unfortunate because I have found that Tobago is often left behind and do not get the kind of support that Trinidad gets on events and projects. So that was my main difficulty.”

He said organisers have also encountered difficulties in getting gowns for the nine finalists.

To address this, Nathan said he came up with the idea of a designer challenge where the nine designers who were selected to create and manufacture the gowns would compete for a cash reward.

“I have approached the THA to sponsor that prize, which we call the THA Chief Secretary Designer Challenge Award. I am still waiting on confirmation from the THA for that award. But it will help tremendously because it would alleviate the need for the delegates to find resources to pay for their own gowns.”

But Nathan assured the show will go on.

“The Shaw Park Complex is booked and ready. We have had our site visit for the pageant on February 4 and ticket sales are moving along nicely because we tried to keep the ticket at a low cost in order for residents of the communities who have a representative to come out and support their delegate for Miss Tobago 2024 beauty pageant.”

He said 14 young women were expected to participate in the semi-finals but two dropped out of the competition.

“So 12 delegates will compete for nine spots in the final.”

Nathan said this evening, Coco Velvet will also host Tobago’s Top Model 2024 to select an aspiring fashion model for an international modelling contract.

The finalists are: Suriah Baird, 12; Jovaughniss Antoine, 14; Emily Phillips, 13; Estere Archer, 17; Anya Duke, 17; Chanique Marcelin, 15; Mickala Alfred, 15; Kayla Taylor, 15; Dionne Mc Kenzie, 22; Renessa Ortiz, 23; Lily Mc Kenzie, 19; Annaya Baird, 17; and Karielle Ramsden, 22.