At the launch of the competition held at the CPJ CRU bar and lounge on Lady Musgrave Road on Wednesday evening, new franchise holder Laura Butler said that she had very big shoes to fill, taking over from Micky Haughton James who held the franchise since 1976.
To fill those shoes, she has assembled a committee of former beauty queens and carefully selected experts in different fields.
The competition has already amassed $15 million in cash and prizes which include a brand-new 2013 Suzuki Kizashi from Stewart’s Auto Sales, and a $5-million scholarship from the University College of the Caribbean (UCC). The scholarships will be for degree programmes at UCC, University of London, and Kursk State Medical University, and will be awarded to the top five contestants.
Butler and her team have also taken the bold move to stage the competition at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James, moving it for the first time out of Kingston. The big day will be July 21. Training promises to be vigorous and will involve life skills and not just competition requirements.
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The Gleaner