Franchise holder of the Miss Guyana/Universe pageant, Odinga Lumumba says he was very disappointed with many of the contestants' answers during the interview segment of the competition.
Viewers were either embarrassed or amused by the responses many of the twenty-four contestants gave during the segment televised live on GTV 11 last Tuesday.
Only a few of the contestants were able to answer questions asked by former Miss Universe, Trinidadian, Wendy Fitzwilliam. One contestant, Stacy Bynoe, in explaining her platform promoting the conservation of the Leatherback Turtle suggested markets could be found for their eggs.
Lumumba told Stabroek News yesterday that Bynoe was a public management degree student at the University of Guyana (UG). He said Bynoe's performance along with those of the other delegates were a reflection of the country's education system.
Asked if in screening the girls their shortcomings were identified thus barring them from being delegates, Lumumba only said that most of the girls were UG students while others had furthered their studies at other institutions after secondary school and others had a sound secondary school education.
"I was very disappointed with their performances, it was only about ten of them did well while the other fourteen were really bad," Lumumba admitted yesterday.
He also suggested that some of the girls might not have been ready for that kind of exposure and said next year they would start training for the pageant much earlier so that they could properly train the girls in all area.
He said he would hold the interview segment live every year, warning that next year's contestants had better be prepared or they would be similarly embarrassed. "I am not going to protect them..." He noted that for some reason the best girls in the country were reluctant to come forward and be part of such pageants.
Lumumba suggested that some of the contestants might have felt intimidated by the former Miss Universe who sometimes spoke at length before asking a question. He added that most of the girls obviously did not read a lot and even failed to learn about the platforms they had chosen.
The franchise holder said whoever went on to win the crown would have to work hard before she goes to the Miss Universe pageant and the organisers would be sending her to classes.