She said that though she has had the experience of a number of pageants locally and on the regional scene, it is only now the tough lesson is hitting home, that if you want to excel in the field of pageantry, it is critical that you pay more attention to and invest more time and energies, in your preparations for the interview segment.
“My recent involvement in the Miss Jamzone International has opened my eyes and I realize I have to take some more time to deal with my interview segment. I paid too much attention to the other segments that am already good at and did not pay enough attention to the one that am somewhat weak at, which is the interview,” said Imo.
“Though I did reasonably well in the pageant overall and also in the interview, I realized that if I am to be far above other contestants, I have to give more preparation time to the interview,” continued the former First Runner-up in the National Carnival Queen Pageant.
The 2011 Miss Jamzone International Queen pageant ended in Guyana on Sunday night, (21st August, 2011), with debris being thrown onto the stage, when the results of the contest were announced.
The actions of the audience were influenced by their dissatisfaction with the outcome of the competition and perhaps the format used to determine who would be crowned queen.
The contest was held in two parts, with the first taking place last week Wednesday, 17th August, and the second leg on Sunday night, (21st August).
The representative for St. Kitts & Nevis, (Fatisha Imo) is said to have won three of the judging segments and the prize for Miss Popularity.
Coming out of the First Round on the Wednesday, Guyana won the Cultural Presentation, Trinidad the Beach Body, St. Kitts & Nevis the Evening Gown; and also picked up the prize for the Miss Popular, as voted for by the public, receiving over 15,000 votes in an online poll.
Imo said that she felt she did not do as well as she should have in the Cultural Presentation. But at the same time, said Imo, we (the contestants) were not very clear about what was expected. “While I went out and spoke, like you do in a normal pageant some countries did like a talent performance and then spoke,’ said the delegate.
“After Wednesday night, I did not think I was the most outstanding overall but I also felt that I was in the middle or top 4 of the 11 girls,” admitted Imo.
“However, on the Sunday night, I was on top of the world and I felt really good, especially coming out of my costume and swimwear appearances. I felt really positive…I mean the crowd was going real crazy…imagine 25,000 people just ranting and raving and screaming your name. It was loud and I was not nervous at all. Shockingly I was not nervous…I just did my thing and had everybody going crazy and hitting the stage in support with people shouting “St. Kitts & Nevis”. When I got back stage they actually had to call in security because so many people wanted to congratulate me,” shared a proud Imo.
Ms. Imo won two of the three segments held on Sunday- Costume and Fantasy Swimwear.
However, according to the format decided on by organizers, the points leading into Sunday and those acquired in the first two appearances on that day, (swimwear and costume), were used to determine the top four contestants, who were then placed into the Finals to compete, only in the Interview Segment.
All of these scores therefore were not counted in the final decision; only those from the actual interview. In the end the delegate from Trinidad was crowned queen, followed by Guyana as First Runner-up, Venezuela-Second Runner-up and then St. Kitts & Nevis-Third Runner-up. The difference in points from the interview was said to be razor thin, less than one.
Some in the audience, which was estimated to be over 25,000, started throwing bottles and other items on the stage with claims that the winner should have been either Guyana or St. Kitts & Nevis. Police had to be called in to provide escort for the Trinidad representative and newly crowned queen, given the anger of the crowd.
From reports coming out of Guyana, it was made obvious that apart from their local delegate, the Guyanese fell in love with the charming Kittitian beauty and were heard cheering for her during her appearances, especially in the swimsuit and costume, when Imo appeared on stage on stilts (moko Jumbie), rocking the audience with her skillful performance, prancing around the stage to a compilation of Caribbean music, ending with the powerful 2010 Road March bomber of King Konris, the “Unstoppable Force”.
“This is the year of people of African Descent and this is a big celebration in Guyana which has a mixture of Indians and people with African ancestry. So I linked my performance to this, given that the Moko Jumbie is said to have originated from Africa and even before I entered the stage the crowd was already screaming,” said Imo.
From reports out of Guyana, it was the music and the introductory script to the performance, mixed with Imo’s abilities on the stilts that truly captivated the audience. “I started with the Big Drum music of the Masquerade, then went into some dancehall (which is hugely popular in Guyana) and then ended with calypso,” said the St. Kitts & Nevis representative.
Imo said that from the very early days of the pageant the contestants were focused but this did not surprise her given that the winning prize at stake was US$10,000.
Eleven countries participated in the contest, which is in its second year.
Imo said that next on her list is consideration of invitations for the Miss Global International in Jamaica on 24th September and the Miss Humanity International in October, in Barbados.