La-Keisha Williams	Rafika Samuel	Nelisa Rodriquez
Casynella Abygail Ollivierre	Cassian King	Dorcel Nyala John
Danielle France	Shanika Shaniah Findlay	Richenda Arian Deane

(Miss St Vincent & The Grenadines 2004)

La ferne Fraser (Miss Carival 2002)

Barbados Repeats Hold On Miss Easterval 2012 Title

Zhane Padiore, Miss Easterval 2012 (seated)
being crowned by Miss Easterval 2011 Jahmila Forde. Miss Carriacou,
Jermilia Joseph (left) took the 2nd spot and new comer, Miss Venezuela
Genesis Valera rounding up the top three.

by Dayle DaSilva

The Miss Easterval title returned to Barbados last
weekend, after 18-year-old Zhane Padiore was crowned this year’s
Easterval Queen last Saturday at the hard court in Ashton, Union Island.

Padiore came out on top from a field of seven young
ladies, beating Carriacou’s Jermilia Joseph into the second position and
Venezuela’s Genesis Valera, third, in that country’s debut in the
competition.

It was a good all round performance, considering it was only Padiore’s second outing in pageantry.

The young Barbadian lass also walked away the winner in a
number of individual categories including Best Talent, Best Evening
Wear, Best Interview and Miss Photogenic.

Joseph, Miss Carriacou, also won the Best Introduction category to add to her second spot finish of the night.

The Union Island supporters may have been disappointed
with their own Molika Mulzac, one of the favourites of the night, who
after strong performances in the introduction, swim wear and talent
segments, performed poorly in the interview segment.

So, too, the supporters of Ariel Roberts, Miss Grenada,
who despite a valiant effort, made an appearance in the evening wear
category, but was unable to finish the show after she had to be taken to
the hospital with an acute case of food poisoning.

Nevertheless, she was adjudged Miss Congeniality.

Adriana Carolina, Miss Margarita, and Genesis Valera, Miss
Venezuela, gave good accounts of themselves in their first outing at
the pageant, with Venezuela taking the Best Swimwear award to add to her
third place finish.

Daneil Soleyn, Miss St. Vincent, did her supporters from
the mainland proud with a good all round performance, but had to walk
away empty handed.

SEARCHLIGHT later caught up with Padiore, who said that
she was pleased with her performance of the night, particularly as she
was able to overcome nerves and do well enough in the interview segment
of the show.

“When I saw the pictures on Facebook, I thought wow, I am going to have a lot of competition,” Padiore said.

“But I was able to overcome that and think about me only and no one else and that is what helped me.”

“I can’t even express how I feel right now — I’m so excited,” she continued.

She admitted that there was some pressure to bring the
crown back to Barbados saying “from the time I got to the airport,
everybody was like ‘Make sure bring back that crown’.”

And working with last year’s winner, Padiore said that she needed to make sure that she represented herself well.

Despite that pressure, she said that she tried her best to remain committed to the task.

She described her training, which began about two months prior to the competition, as rigorous.

Now that she has successfully defended the crown, Padiore,
a final year A-level student, said that she will now be able to use her
experience from this pageant, particularly the interview, which she
says has helped her to overcome her fears and become a more confident
public speaker.

Last year’s winner and former schoolmate of Padiore,
Jamilah Forde, said that she was proud of her successor’s performance
this year.

“She worked hard, she is smart and beautiful, and I think
she really deserved it. She is a beautiful Bajan queen,” Forde said.
(SEARCHLIGHT)

Kingstown Capital of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.