It was dubbed ‘The Royal Parade’ fashion show, and this past Saturday, November 13th, 2010, the Lion’s Den was the venue where Queen of the Jewel (formerly The Next Miss Belize) held its first ever fashion show in San Pedro. The show was off to a rocky start when it began nearly two hours (9:30pm) after its scheduled start-time (7:30pm). No explanation was given for the late start and there was quite a rumbling amongst the audience.
Once the show began, however, everyone was captivated by the beautiful delegates vying for the title of Miss Belize as they showcased the fun and fabulous designs of RH Creations. The colorful prints evoked a feeling of the tropics, with most of those present envisioning the designs being a hit on the island and beyond.
During the catwalk, the ladies were being judged for poise and presentation. Points assigned to the girls would also count towards the final vote during the actual pageant. At the end of the night, only one winner was to be declared Best Model. Before announcing the winner, sashes were handed out to each girl – with some confusion as it seemed that the ladies hadn’t been properly identified. A search on the website and Facebook pages of The Next Miss Belize brought up no proper identification of each girl.
In the end, the results were announced and it was a tie between San Pedro’s Scarleth Delgado and Belmopan’s Krista Cruz. However, the controversy erupted when the winner’s sash and tiara were placed on Scarleth. Scarleth took her winner’s walk down the runway, and Krista followed. That was when the audience realized a mistake had been made – apparently some had not heard the announcement of a tie. The ladies remained on stage, and their poise never faltered despite the controversy. For that, they must be congratulated.
In a press release sent out by Pageant director Opal Enriquez, she apologizes to Scarleth Delgado. “Though all ten delegates were stunning in their presentations, the final scores equated to a tie between Scarleth Delgado of San Pedro and Krista Cruz of Belmopan. While the organization apologizes to Scarleth for the technical sound error which resulted in the hasty and unscripted coronation, pageant director, Ms. Opal Enriquez was excited about having two winners of a preliminary competition. “This is only our first year in business and not the first time in pageant history that there have been dual winners in a preliminary category. This affirmation of the quality of contestants that the competition has attracted is wonderful for Belize, and makes the pageant more of an event worth attending,” she says. This is only the first round of the competition and the scores will be carried over to count as 10% of the final decision. “We do not know who the winner of the pageant will be but after this amazing display of talent and beauty I am confident that any of these ten young ladies will make an excellent representative for our country.
“The two beauties will both share the title “Best Model 2010-2011”. Their prizes include a $300 shopping gift certificate from Moon Dancer, two designer swimsuits from Swimbay Swimwear and a fashion photo session from Conch Creative Photography. All delegates received two designer dresses from Richard Henderson of RH Creation.
Queen of the Jewel Ltd. organizers would like to thank the people of San Pedro for their hospitality and express their sincere gratitude to their sponsors, Ambergris Lake Villas, Crave Restaurant, Ramon’s Village Resort, Manelly’s Ice Cream Parlor, Moon Dancer, and the San Pedro Belize Express and Caye Caulker Water Taxi for their kindness and support.
The final show for Queen of the Jewel will be on November 27th, 2010 at the Bliss Center in Belize City. Showtime is at 7:30pm. San Pedro residents are asked to show support to their two representatives, Anna Haylock and Scarleth Delgado. Tickets are already on sale for what is considered to be a prime event.
For tickets, kindly contact Rene Malik at 610-4051 or email [email protected].
