THE second time was definitely the charm for former Miss Universe Guyana first runner-up Soyini Fraser, who was crowned Miss Universe Guyana on Saturday.Fraser beat out tough competition from former Miss World Guyana Rufeiya Husain, among others, when the pageant was hosted at the Marriott Hotel in Kingston, Georgetown.
“My chest is just trying to contain my heart right now. At the announcement of the top five I was just happy to be the first person called; I was just crazy, excited. You can’t even understand how hard it is when you’re up here and you have so many beautiful women in one place and you just wish that you are the ones that the judges think can take the next step,” Fraser told reporters following her win.
Husain finished as first runner-up. Ariella Basdeo was the second runner-up, followed by Ashley John and Ayana Whitehead in the third and fourth positions.
Dressed in her red Sidney L Francois evening gown, Fraser was crowned by outgoing queen Shauna Ramdyhan.
Fraser also saw herself picking up the pageant award for “Best Talent”, while in other awards Malika Russell won “Miss Congeniality”, Xameira Kippins deservingly took the “Miss Fitness Award”; Ariella Basdeo took the “Beautiful Heart” award; and Ashley John earned the “People’s Choice Award.”
There was no award for best gown, but obviously if there was, Soyini would have seen herself copping another award, in her fish-tail designed dress, with designer Francois continuing to show that he is the “Pageant King” when it comes to evening gowns.
The pageant got off to an embarrassing start– one hour and a half late. And added to that, the VIP section was overloaded and when host Sherod Duncan invited the attendees to take their seats, many VIP patrons found themselves without one.
Things started off with the traditional presentation of the young ladies, with the beauties entering to Timeka Marshall’s “Come Go Down Deh.”
The crowd favourites were quickly identified as Ashley John and Kippins.
As a singer sweetly serenaded the audience to “Mermaid Fantasy,” the swimsuit segment got underway with the lovely young ladies strutting their stuff in their Kandice Pelletier two-piece bikinis.
As if the late start did not afford patrons enough time to mingle, the night then headed into intermission, where more worries awaited the VIP patrons when it was soon realised the bar was out of many drinks.
BETTER FIND…
“I’ve only had two glasses of wine and they’re out of wine already, I paid $15,000 for my ticket, they better find more wine,” commented an irate patron, sending organisers once again scrambling to fix things.
During intermission, supporters were given the opportunity to mingle with the newly minted Miss Guyana India queen, the radiant, Brittany Singh. It was then time for the evening gown segment, and then it was time for the suspenseful announcement of the top 10 finalists.
The top 10 finalists had already been decided upon based on the delegates’ performance at the preceding, lacklustre Miss Universe Guyana “Preliminary and Talent Night” last week Tuesday at the Savannah Suite of the Pegasus Hotel.
Many seemed sufficiently satisfied with this list, which outside of the top five also included Kippins, Odessa Grogan, Iman Jaisingh, Denisha Rogers, and Meleisa DeFreitas. It was the end of the road for Keliesha Kelly, Aysya Kelly, and Ashley Cameron.
Moving at a mercifully fast pace, just over one hour after its start, the pageant was already down to its final five, and it was time for the final questions.
Each delegate was required to answer two questions: one universal question given to all of the delegates, as well as a second question individual to each delegate. The first general and easy question asked the ladies: “Why should you be chosen to be Miss Universe Guyana 2016?” To which almost all of the top five answered wonderfully, making it tough for the audience to begin assessing a winner.
In her answer to this question, Soyini noted that she felt being a confidently beautiful young woman, of determination and strength, are traits that she believes should give her the crown.
Her second question was: “There has been much debate and discussion about the University of Guyana; I know generally education in Guyana. If you could make a difference in education in Guyana, what would it be and how would you do it.”
Fraser beautifully noted that she would “ensure that teachers’ salaries are raised”, a very well received answer. And in the end this was obviously the best question and answers that stood out to the judges.
Soyini now moves on to representing Guyana at the Miss Universe Pageant in the Philippines on January 1, 2016, when she will be hopeful of making it into the top 15 and ending Guyana’s poor standing at the pageant over the years.
