Jamaica’s delegate to the first ever Miss Jamzone International Pageant, 21-year-old Lesa-Gayle Wee Tom, beat seven others to carry off the coveted title last Sunday night at the beach pageant at Splashmin’s Fun Park and Resort on the Linden/Soesdyke Highway.
In the runners-up positions were 24-year-old Miss St. Lucia, Joyann Biscette, who was first runner-up, our very own delegate 24-year-old Nikita Archer in the second   runner up spot, and the third runner up position went to Antigua’s delegate, 22-year old Shari Mc Ewan.
The alluring Wee Tom, a reality television actress, model and beauty queen, was a crowd favourite from the very beginning.
The programme was kicked off by the appearance of the delegates outfitted in yellow and rose pink bikinis, designed by Olympia Small-Soneram, dancing to local diva Timeka Marshall’s “Wind it So”.
Attendees were given a glimpse into the culture and history of each delegate’s motherland when the delegates followed with a presentation of costumes representing different aspects of their respective countries.
In this category, delegate number one Alcinda Huisden of Suriname, modeled the Koto or big skirt, a garment traditionally described as something that was given by slave masters’ wives to female slaves to hide their fulsome bodies, presumably from the lustful eyes of the masters.
The sequined blue and white costume featured a ruffled skirt, padded bodice and was finished with a hat and parasol.
Delegate number two, Dominican Republic’s Cintia Paula, presented the “Dancing Devil” of carnival, a gold-toned two-piece costume that featured a jeweled loin piece and feathered head and arm accents.

Delegate number three, Elizabeth Robinson from Trinidad and Tobago, presented ‘Madam Pan”, a feminine black, red, and white costume which featured a midriff top and a long ruffled skirt.
Delegate number four,  Guyana’s Nikita Archer,  wore a costume featuring the jaguar, and it also highlighted Guyana’s birds and greenery.
Delegate number five, St. Lucia’s Joyann Biscette also represented the natural wonders of her country’s flora and fauna, “palancing” and exciting the crowd in a colourful costume that represented the national bird of St. Lucia.
Barbados’s Je-Meila Maloney, wearing a beautiful orange and gold themed costume, represented “The Spirit of Crop over”.
Wee Tom danced seductively representing a “Market Woman”, wearing a sequined skirt with a ruffled sleeve midriff top.
Also representing market women, Mc Ewan’s costume, titled “Antiguan Beauty” and featuring a bodice-fitted top with a criss-cross back and a long skirt, represented what women wore to the market long ago.

Things heated up even more in the “Fantasy Swim-wear” segment which saw the delegates modelling swimwear that left one doubting if it was possible to swim in such things. But they looked stunning none-the-less.
Huisden wore a beautiful flower themed gold toned bikini, complemented by a gold chain titled, “Golden Beauty”. Paula’s black bikini titled “Love of my land” featured red feathers, beads and sea shells.
Robinson wore a stunning one piece titled “Going Green”, while Guyana’s delegate sported “Princess of the Sea, a stunning two piece that featured shells and a shimmery cape. Biscett’s costume, made mostly of aluminum foil, featured the hibiscus flower and was titled “La mode St. Lucia”. Maloney was flaming hot in “Raging inferno” a sheer piece that featured flames in strategic, modest places.
Wee Tom showed her talent and flair for designing in a crystal accented pink two piece that she had designed herself. Finally there was Mc Ewan’s “Token of Appreciation”, a bright red two piece representing the red on her country’s flag.
The pageant brought the curtain down on a packed week of activities, which included a swimsuit segment, an intelligence segment and three super concerts.

This year, the acclaimed Miss Jamzone Pageant included   regional delegates as a means of garnering support from our neighbouring countries and promoting integration within the region.