The swimsuit leg of the Miss Jamzone International pageant was a big disappointment as models and entertainers were on stage more than the delegates.

This leg, which was held at the Princess Hotel and Casino Poolside on Sunday, marked the beginning of the competition which will end on Sunday at Splashmins Fun Park and Resort. While the winner will not be revealed until the finals, Miss Guyana, Miss St. Lucia and Miss Jamaica were the obvious favourites.

While a large crowd turned up to support their favourite contestants, the show did not get underway until almost an hour after the scheduled 8 pm start. The hosts, HJTV’s Simone and radio DJ Casual, did their best over the next three hours to add some life to the event.

Things got underway with members of the Classique Dance Company doing a spicy dance sequence and this was followed by the introduction of the eight delegates dressed in black. As expected, an obviously very confident Miss Guyana Nikita Archer had the crowd’s full support. Every contestant was applauded after their opening remarks and excluding Archer, it was hard to recognize the other favourites at this point.

However, after the introductions, patrons did not see the contestants until almost two hours later. They were treated to an endless array of local designs and fashion displays from boutiques along with music from local performers Tennicia De Freitas, Gialiani and Jomo, who brought some life back to the crowd. At one point, many patrons, particularly in the VIP section, started complaining as they wanted to see the contestants and not fashion.

Just after 10:30pm, the delegates, wearing pink and green swimsuits designed by Olympia Small-Sonaram, took to the stage. They returned to the stage several times in the same swimsuit, showing off their sassy sides.

The pageant’s intelligence segment is slated for tomorrow at the National Cultural Centre.