Photos by Joanna Dhanraj
Delicia Wright took the title of Miss Guyana Emancipation 2016, besting six other beauties on Sunday last at the Fifth Annual Guyana Emancipation Pageant hosted at National Cultural Centre.
The pageant got underway 20 minutes later than the scheduled 20:00 hrs, but once it did, every category certainly left a lasting impression on the audience.
The first segment saw the contestants—Shellon Massiah, Faith Harding, Shemaine Daniels, Kipany Jordan, Gabriella Chapman, Delicia Wright and Jasmin Adams—introducing themselves.
Each contestant had been tasked with writing an original piece that dealt with African Unity and was each expected to deliver same in spoken word. Outstanding performances came from crowd favourite Gabriella Chapman, Faith Harding and Delicia Wright.
Next it was the Business Segment where the contestants had to be appropriately outfitted for whatever career they chose to represent. Their pieces were accentuated with bright-coloured African print.
An item of spoken word poetry was done by a former contestant of the 2014 Miss Guyana Emancipation pageant, before the category of the STEM Project. STEM is a curriculum based on the idea of educating students in four specific disciplines – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The winner of this category was chosen by President David Granger in a pre-judging and automatically qualified for a place in the top four. Each contestant took on one of the four disciplines and shared with the audience and the judges why she chose that discipline and how it benefited the students she taught. Shellon’s was promoting STEM through medical science; Faith’s was Mathematics; Shemaine’s medical science; Kipany’s technology; Gabriella’s engineering; Delicia’s technology and Jasmin’s engineering. Delicia won this segment and therefore prequalified for the final four.
Local artiste, Abel ‘JR Lovestabbs’ Stokes then gave a spectacular performance of “Smile Guyana Smile” before a 30-minute intermission.
This made way for the most glamorous part of the pageant, the Evening Gown Segment in which the contestants were escorted on stage by Abel Stokes as they displayed their Afro-styled gowns done by local designers. Faith’s blue sequined gown was a standout and crowd favourite, but it bowed in comparison to Gabriella’s gown of red and sequined gold with gold accessories. This gown gave her a queenly look and represented the bloody price her ancestors paid for their freedom.
Next was the Intelligence Segment where they each picked a piece of paper with a question from one of the judges.
Following this Stokes serenaded them with “Natural Beauty.”
During a musical interlude, which included performances of “African Queen” and “Redemption Song,” the final four were announced. Joining Delicia were Jasmin, Shellon and Gabriella.
It was now time for the final question, which was: “The United Nations designated 2015-2024 as the International Decade for people of African Descent. What is the theme for this decade and based on that theme what would you like to see achieved in Guyana to fulfil the objectives of this decade?”
Jasmin gave a definitive answer declaring the theme to be ‘Recognition, Justice and Development.’ Gabriella was also straight to the point, while a nervous and trembling Shellon had to ask the judge to repeat the question and fumbled over her answer. Delicia also gave a definitive answer remembering to highlight what she would like to see achieved in Guyana.
Miss Guyana Emancipation 2013 Miracle Hilliman the gave the vote of thanks, making way for Miss Guyana Emancipation 2015, Akeela Dey’s final walk.
The top four contestants the reappeared for the announcing of the winner.
Shellon was adjudged third runner-up, Gabriella second runner-up, Jasmin first runner-up and Delicia, the queen. Additionally, Faith won the award for ‘Best Introduction’ and Shemaine won the ‘People’s Choice Award’ on Facebook.
The judges were Nicole Cole, Timeka Botsway, Wendy Hermonstine, Dr Phillip Thomas and chief judge, Vincent Alexander.
