Guyana’s representatives to the Miss/Mr Model Tourism of the World pageant, 29-year-old Raveena Mangal and 34-year-old Paul Charles have been competing in preliminary rounds along with representatives from 13 other countries over the past month. Come next Saturday the pageant’s first king and queen will be crowned.
National Director Roshini Boodhoo-Persaud explained that judging will be done by a committee of individuals from the diaspora. Each judge will view all the preliminary rounds and arrive at the winners based on the criteria they have been provided.
Roshini, who was named Vice President of International Markets and Business Development and leads training and coaching for the pageant, is not part of that committee.
Judges will be looking to see that contestants have a sense of responsibility, modelling abilities, self-confidence, talent, and work ethic. They should be physically fit, consistent with a healthy lifestyle. Contestants should have a runway presence and should be photogenic. The winners may not score the highest in any one category but are expected to excel in all categories.
Initially the pageant was set for last year but was cancelled as a result of the pandemic. It was then slated for this year in Montego Bay, Jamaica. However, that was not to be and it was decided that the competition would be held virtually.
Participants were required to become actively involved in social media where they would showcase themselves. Another requirement was for contestants to do acts of kindness. Raveena donated bags of dog food to one of the local animal shelters. Paul also engaged in humanitarian work.
Other challenges included doing a cover of popular American band Maroon Five and painting their faces in the colours of their flags. Meanwhile, for the intelligent segment contestants were asked questions on the spot during virtual meetings with committee members. None of the participants were aware of the questions they would be asked. Some of the questions also came from social media fans who were instructed to inbox the questions they wanted the contestants to answer. As part of this segment, contestants were required to do five-minute speeches on how they were affected by COVID, what their governments have been doing to stop transmission and what were some of their ideas they think could help in curbing the spread.
The final categories included their national costume, swimwear, evening wear and runway fashion, and they were expected to send videos and photos of these to the committee. Roshini said the pageant is culturally oriented and the runway fashion is promoting African culture this year, therefore contestants had to be outfitted in African prints. The swimsuit category also featured a theme that required contestants to don swimwear that were yellow or black or a fusion of both colours.
Roshini, who was Miss India Guyana 2011 and fourth runner-up in the Miss Universe Guyana 2011 pageant explained that she was talking with Raveena about the evening gown she wore at the latter pageant and they decided Raveena could wear the same gown. They agreed that it would be a good example of upcycling and only minor alterations had to be made.
Raveena’s swimwear and runway fashion were sponsored by Jay’s Designs while Paul took on the designs of his outfits himself.
Roshini took the opportunity to acknowledge those who played a pivotal role in the pageant including designer Dexter Gardener and videographer Philip Drayton.
Some of the other countries that signed up to participate are India, Colombia, San Andres, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Haiti, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, and Jamaica.
Videos of the competition will be aired next Saturday night on e-Networks where the winners of the pageant will be revealed.
