Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

The contestants in the Miss Jamaica World 2007 pageant as they were presented at a sashing, held at Sovereign Centre, Hope Road, Liguanea, on Saturday, July 14. They are (from left) Jody Shaw, Sasha Leigh Gordon, Tina Ingram, Kadia Brooks, Marika Hornsby, Racquel Powell, Natalia Godfrey, Rosina Casserly, Angena Thomas, Camesha Powell, Simone Poot, Yendi Phillipps, Tiffany Ellis, Kristen Wood, Renae Ellis and Kristin Metz. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

It was a controversial year for the Miss Jamaica World competition in 2006. However, franchise holder Mickey Haughton-James claims that this year the new arrivals have exceeded expectations.

Painting the pages of local papers red last year is the now very pregnant Miss Jamaica World 2006 Queen, Sara Lawrence. Lawrence raised more than a few eyebrows late last year when news got out that the 22-year-old was with child. In a statement released to the public Lawrence relinquished her title as Miss Jamaica World.

"I relinquish my position as Miss Jamaica World 2006, having taken a deeply personal decision to face up to my responsibilities as one who expects to become a mother later this year. I believe that it is my moral obligation to do what I believe to be ethically correct and will follow what I believe to be right," she stated.

With changes in the customary format of the contest, many question whether last year's scandal was at the root of the adjustments. According to Haughton-James, the changes are meant to improve the competition and have nothing to do with Sara Lawrence.

This year's hopefuls were scrutinised more heavily than previous batches, to look at whether they were worthy and ready to be a Miss Jamaica World. Normally, the girls come into Spartan Health Club, where they are assessed by a panel of judges. This year they had to give more background information on their education, goals and looks. A panel of judges, comprising mainly past queens and grooming experts, then selected a group of entrants, based on the photographs and entry forms received, to appear before them personally.

A lot of entries this year

Sara Lawrence, Miss Jamaica World 2006, is all smiles at the parade and sashing of the Miss Jamaica World 2007 contestants.

Haughton-James says, "We had a lot of entries this year. We had persons applying over the Internet, where they also sent in photographs. This is different, instead of the public eliminations. What that enabled us to do is that persons who didn't qualify we would be able to disregard them. This standard is far more suited; we still have a selection at Spartan as well. This year we got such a good crop of girls. If you check out their bios online you can see that they are all educated, smart girls."

The finalists were presented to the public on Saturday, July 14, at the Sovereign Centre, Liguanea, St. Andrew, where they paraded in swimwear and sportswear.

Haughton-James said that last year's mishap had no negative effect for this year's finalists. "We want more Sara Lawrences; we are proud of our winner. We want more professionals, that is, more girls with degrees who are beautiful," he said. Having given up her title as Miss Jamaica World 2006 Lawrence had no real involvement in the competition. As usual, though, she will be honoured on the 2007 coronation night, with clips of her reign being shown.

Another change in this year's competition is that some of the mini-competitions to determine five of the finalists will now be done on the night of the pageant, Saturday, August 18. The sports competition is the only one that will take place before then, with the talent and modelling competitions being held at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston, on the big night. This year's theme for the pageant is 'Riddim In Colour'.

The biggest questions on many lips is who will give away this year's crown. There are those who believe that the 2006 first runner-up Kristelle Harris should give away the crown. However, Haughton-James claimed that it is really the duty of a queen or past queen to do so. While he would not say much on the matter, itis the belief that Terri-Karelle Griffith, Miss Jamaica World 2005, will do the honour. Griffith has recently been appointed public relations director and contestants' chaperone for the 2007 Miss Jamaica World Pageant.