International scholarships up for grabs at Miss Universe Jamaica coronation tomorrow

The Miss Universe Jamaica Organisation continues to practise its tagline, 'Enhancing Lives Through Beauty,' in awarding four scholarships to the University of the District of Columbia in Washington, DC.

The scholarships are each valued at US$64,000 and are primarily for the three title winners who will be selected at the grand coronation spectacular that takes place this Friday August 24, at the Jamaica Pegasus.

The main title winner will naturally be Miss Universe Jamaica, who will represent Jamaica at the Miss Universe competition. A fourth scholar-ship will also be awarded to a Jamaican in need through the Miss Universe Jamaica charity - the GOGETTER (Giving Our Girls Economic Tools To Enrich & Reward) initiative. Eligible candidates will be invited through the media to apply, and the scholarship will be awarded based on need and academic achievement.

"The fact that there are three main scholarships and three international titles, among other great prizes up for grabs this year, means that there is more to go around in this year's pageant," says national director, Mark McDermoth. "We see this year as very special, being our sixth staging of the pageant and a great milestone for the Uzuri International-Miss Universe alliance."

The pageant is being dubbed the Island Energy Miss Universe Jamaica Beauty Fashion and Wellness Pageant in homage to title sponsor Island Energy Drink and will be truly a beauty, fashion and wellness affair with the many added elements this year. Wayne Marshall is the very special guest artiste and will be entertaining on coronation night.

Preliminary pageants

Another element that made a dramatic difference for the Miss Universe Jamaica brand was the preliminary pageants held across the length and breadth of Jamaica to comb the island for that special title winner. This year, the Central pageant in Mandeville was resumed as a boutique event after two years of dormancy, and Jessica Jeffrey emerged the title winner for that region with an automatic spot in this year's national line-up. Miss Universe Jamaica West will be added to the programme next year and will be staged in the Negril area. "The standard of beauty and talent coming out of these preliminary pageant is outstanding, so much so that this year we had to make changes to accommodate the competitive level of finalists in the Miss Universe Jamaica East and Northwest pageants. Instead of the one contestant who gets an automatic spot at the national level, we were forced to award two automatic spots at the Northwest finals in Montego Bay and three automatic spots at the East finals in Kingston, notes Williams.

The preliminary winners who will be going up for the national crown this Friday are Miss Universe Jamaica Northeast Ashly Thomas; Miss Universe Jamaica Northwest Lanae Gillette; Miss Universe Jamaica East Kadejah Anderson, and Racquel Service, Miss Diaspora USA.