In what appeared to be a controversial decision, Brittany Singh took the coveted Miss India Guyana crown last Sunday at the Marriott Hotel beating out crowd favourite Tahirih Boodhoo and Abigail Mohabir, who was the only other contestant.
The pageant commenced with the Talent segment where the contestants introduced themselves before doing their piece. Tahirih, who was up first, performed a song and then a dance. Brittany did a dance and Abigail sang and played the violin.
Next was the Question and Answer segment where the three contestants were asked the same question, which was, ‘My heritage, my home; how do you showcase this on the international stage as an Indian woman?’ None of the contestants answered this question directly, as they each said that they would tell people about Guyana.
After a short break, it was time for the Indian Culture segment, which was the last one. The contestants then reappeared on stage in their striking and colourful Indian wear. It seemed that the short, sweet pageant was moving along well, so much so that no one in the small audience was prepared for what happened next.
With the new franchise holder Uma Devi Bux announcing that the judges’ decision was final, MC Inderpaul Bisnauth was tasked with announcing the winner.
Abigail was named second runner-up, Tahirih first runner-up and Brittany Miss India Guyana. There was complete silence and it was evident that the audience though that he had made a mistake. However, after a while with nothing else forthcoming, whispers began. Then renowned TV host and entertainer Joel Ghansham, who was seated in the audience, stood up and said that in all the seven years he has been back here permanently he has never seen anything quite so ridiculous. Soon he was the centre of attention and was surrounded by media representatives. He said he thought the MC made a “Steve Harvey mistake” as what he had announced certainly couldn’t be true.
Earlier, during the intermission several persons who were backing the other two contestants had murmured that though they wanted their girl to win they were sure Tahirih would, since they thought she did better in the Question and Answer segment.
However, the judges’ decision was indeed final.
According to an insider, Joel is related to Tahirih and the girls were not only judged on the Question and Answer segment but points were tallied from all of the segments and it was Brittany who won by a few points.
The queen will be flaunting a gold-plated crown during her reign. She will receive a complete wardrobe for the week of events, done by a few of our local designers. For the duration of her reign she will be given a stipend. Brittany will be representing Guyana at the Miss India World Pageant in New Jersey this December. For the six days she will be in New Jersey, she will be outfitted in international designer brands.
The other two contestants were presented with trophies for their efforts.
The judges were designers Derek Moore, Rishma Persaud from RP Couture and Jason Shurland; E-Networks Cross Fit Games Organiser Noshavyah King and the franchise holder.
The franchise was offered to Uma sometime in late-July/early-August of this year by the Indian Festival Committee in New York which runs the Miss and Mrs India Worldwide Pageants. The contestants had less than 13 days to prepare.
