All attention in St. Kitts & Nevis will be shifted next week Friday, 1st July, when the 2011 Carnival Queen, Miss Iantavian Queeley, takes part in the annual Miss Carival Queen pageant, slated for St. Vincent, as part of that country’s carnival celebrations.
Officials in the Ministry of Culture in Basseterre are already expressing confidence in the ability of Miss Queeley, indicating that she will do her country proud by delivering an outstanding performance, of the quality worthy of coronation.
A top official in the Ministry, Ms. Sharon Rattan, who is the Permanent Secretary of Culture, revealed that Ms. Queeley along with her chaperone, Ozelle Martin, are due to travel to the Vincy Mas, on Monday 27th June, to compete in the pageant which is sponsored by the First Citizens Bank.
The St. Kitts & Nevis representative will be among 10 contestants from throughout the Caribbean, vying for the top honours.
While in St. Vincent, Miss. Queeley and her fellow delegates will be engaged in various pre show activities, interacting with the public and sponsors, as part of the marketing and promotional events to drum up support for the contest.
The delegates are expected to be given the opportunity to meet with St. Vincent’s Prime Minister, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves and other Cabinet officials, while also participating in a number of media interviews.
St. Kitts & Nevis has had a strong record in the Miss Carival Pageant, winning on a number of occasions and with other representatives making it to the top 3 positions.
The prestigious Miss Carival Beauty Pageant will be staged at the Victoria Park in the heart of Kingstown, St Vincent.
The Carnival Development Corporation, CDC, through its Beauty Shows Committee, BSC, released the names of the 10 beautiful ladies who will compete in this year’s pageant.
Brittany Diamond Marissa Worrell is the Delegate from Barbados, while Karen Shih Ryes will represent the Dominican Republic.
Shellya Rogers is Anguilla’s representative and Roneisha Avaleigh James will carry the Jamaican flag.
Kia Karen Jocahim is on a quest to take back the Miss Carival crown to T&T. Her country has had two winners in Brenda Joy Fahey, who won the title in 1986 and Beverly Toney, who went back to T&T in 1991 with the Miss Carival title.
Four Delegates from Dominica have had the Miss Carival crown placed on their heads. In 1989, Marcella La Roque won. Four years later in 1993, Dominica sent Francelia Agar as a Delegate and she returned to the country with the crown. In 2006 and 2007, Dominicans Nakita Bruno and Leandra Lander were crowned Miss Carival.
The hopes of Dominica having a fifth Miss Carival crown now rest with Jacintha Lynn Fagan Dominica.
In 1988 Haley Cassius walked away with the Miss Carival title for St Kitts-Nevis and in 1997, Gloria Esdale did a repeat for her country. The task to secure another Miss Carival crown for St Kitts-Nevis now rests with Antavian Romancia Lynette Queeley.
Iva Satney won the Miss Carival title last year and became the first Delegate from St Lucia to do so. This year, Louise Liza Victor will try to make it two-in-a-row for St Lucia.
Venezuela’s Yojaisy Mendoza will be making an attempt to win her country its first Miss Carival title, while the hopes and aspirations of the Vincentian public will be on the shoulders of Aviar Charles, Miss SVG 2011.
The first Miss Carival beauty pageant was held in 1985 and SVG’s Donna Young copped the title. Since then, five other Vincentian beauties have made the country proud by wearing the crown.
Roxanne Israel was the first Vincentian after Donna Young to win the Miss Carival title. She did so in 1987.
It took the country 15 years before it celebrated another Miss Carival win. La Ferne Fraser came to the fore and won the crown in 2002 and Shivern Peters repeated the feat in 2001. When Ronique Dellimore competed in 2008, she brought joy to the Vincentian public when the crown we placed on her head.
This year Miss Carival could be one of the most competitive and the Vincentian public is expected to descend on the Victoria Park to lend their support to the 10 delegates.
Kittitians and Nevisians will be keeping a close watch to witness the fortunes of its 2011 representative, the talented Miss Iantavian Queeley.
