Seniors caption:The Senior Carnival Queen contestants top row: Dikenia Lake, Davinia Brooks, Caroline Paredes, Stephanie Fraites and Kyara Walker. Bottom row: Chalmarie Vlaun, Valisca Joseph, Shanice Powell and Roshanna Whyte.
Anticipation and expectation is expected to be high for two of the more popular local shows of Carnival. The contestants of the Motorworld & TelEm 2013 Senior and Ms. Mature Carnival Queen Pageants were introduced to the public over the weekend to further ad to the excitement of the hype surrounding Carnival 2013 thus far.
Matures caption:The Ms. Mature Carnival Queen contestants top row: Paula Gordon, Davia Bailey-Wilson, Coline Henson-Mitchell, Kimberley Duzong, Ketty Courage and Kelly Busby. Bottom row: Hillianthe Boasman, Shadira David, Mireya Ostiana, Lavinia Marsham and Genesis Romney.
Both Motorworld and TelEm are locked in as the corporate sponsors for both pageants with Motorworld putting up two cars, one each for the eventual queens of the pageants. The Senior pageant, which will also crown a Miss St. Maarten, feature 9 contestants while the Mature Pageant feature 11 women 26 years of age and older.
There is no shortage of intrigue with these two pageants, each featuring contestants that have been former queens or have placed in previous pageants over the years. Many of the contestants have been involved in pageantry from very young and, according to President of the St. Maarten carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) Mike Granger, all are eager to perform. One of the contestants is still the reigning Miss Hibiscus St. Maarten Queen.
"The Mature Pageant is unique by nature. Here you have well-known, professional woman in various fields competing in a pageant. This appeals to many people. The Senior Pageant will crown a Miss St. Maarten to be an ambassador for her country. We are very excited about these two pageants and are very happy with the amount of contestants we’ve attracted this year," Granger said.
Motorworld and the SCDF added more excitement to both pageants by offering brand new vehicles to the eventual queens. "We just thought the caliber of the events deserves a terrific grand prize. A lot goes into pageant preparation so we believe these women should be nicely rewarded," Granger said.
The TelEm Group of companies is also on board as corporate sponsors and Granger extended thanks on behalf of the foundation to both companies for stepping up and supporting events that are large parts of Carnival.