The hour is fast approaching and their hearts must be racing, as they silently ask themselves, ‘will it be me?’ and say a prayer for the Miss Guyana/Universe crown tonight.
The reality is that twenty-four beauties are vying for the coveted crown and each one is hoping to be chosen for the special honour.
Two crucial segments have already been completed and although there is the evening gown segment before the final ten are selected, some of them have already been eliminated following those two sequences.
And after months of training and interfacing with the public through the media, there are a few names that are being considered a must in the top five.
A front-runner for the crown is twenty-five-year-old Leanna Damond. Her name is among the top five of numerous persons Stabroek News spoke to.
Standing at 5ft 9”, she has captivated the public with her winsome smile and beautiful body.
And remember she was among the few that successfully navigated the intelligence segment of the pageant.
Leanna, who loves to chat, is well read and knowledgeable about a wide variety of subjects with is a definite plus for her.
The final year economics student at the University of Guyana describes herself as being “beautiful, talented, intelligent.”
Another name that is prominent on the list of five among many is twenty-year-old Vanessa Tacooram. She was another of the young ladies who did well in the intelligence segment but fell down in the swimsuit segment.
Why? Some feel that with 142 pounds, the young woman has too much weight for a beauty queen. But as she puts it, she is 5 ft 7” and with heels she would gain a few more inches. “But I know, maybe I do need to lose some weight and I am working on it...” she says.
The tourism management student at Thompson University, Pennsylvania, USA, is a flight attendant with Universal Airlines.
She is very articulate and also has a beautiful smile that tells you a lot. She describes herself as being “kind, loving, down to earth, your regular girl.”
She loves the simple things in life and does voluntary work.
There is some debate as to who will be who will be the other three in the top five.
But from all indications twenty-year-old Ulex Atwell, who has a lot of experience in national pageants, will be another in the final five.
The former Miss Guyana Talented Queen, who is beautiful and has the right weight and height for a beauty queen, seems to have the advantage over the other competitors aiming to be in the final five. She is the Assistant Manager of Guyana Stationary & Office Supplies and a former producer at GTV 11.
She believes in living her life to the fullest and asserts: “I firmly believe we should love all mankind. I know what I want and I am after it and I believe in not settling for second best but getting ¼to the top and that’s what I am doing.”
Another Berbician Sheldyne Ferreira, the reigning Miss Rose Hall, seems to be heading to the top five. The eighteen-year-old, who is an accounting student at the University of Guyana, Tain Campus, also handled herself well in the intelligence segment. Her platform is the `The Cries of the Street Children’ as she is concerned about the increasing number of street children in Guyana and believes that they should be given every opportunity to become future leaders. In her spare time she enjoys yoga, reading, playing chess and sketching.
There are three strong competitors for the final spot in the top five. These are Latoya Pereira, Marita Persaud and Danielle Mc Intyre.
Pereira would have been happy with her performance in the intelligence segment. She is eighteen-years-old and feels that she is such a natural beauty that there is no need for make-up. She is slim and trim with a beautiful voice and is a student at The International University. The Turkeyen resident is very concerned about peace and unity in the country and has chosen that for her platform. She loves to sing and dance in her spare time.
Persaud, who is described as “perky, pretty” and “packing a knock-out punch in her personality”, is 5 ft 2” and weighs 96 pounds.
The twenty-two-year-old was the second runner-up in last year’s Miss Guyana/World pageant. She is enjoying the training for this pageant and is very confident that she will win.
And who is Marita? - “Marita Persaud is smart, sexy, beautiful and one hundred per cent quality Guyanese,” she says.
Twenty-year-old McIntyre is from Linden and the reigning Miss Linden. She feels she could be a good ambassador for her country and wants her name to be written in history.
She was also in last year’s Miss Guyana/World pageant and copped fourth runner-up. She said Danielle is a “loving, humble, intelligent, God-fearing and ambitious, not forgetting, attractive young woman.”
This beauty weighs 101 pounds and stands at 5 ft 7” tall.
Julianna Fortune and Annalisa Reynolds are two other beauties who are strong contenders.
In a matter of hours we will stop the guessing and know definitely who the queen is.