Judge's decision met by stunned silence and protests

By Antoine Craigwell

(New York, NY) -With 524 points, the mistress of ceremonies announced, contestant no. 4 Mimi Mancini representing Jamaica, dressed in a formless satin-looking white dress, was the winner of the first ever Gay Caribbean Pageant, themed: Fostering Tolerance. The pageant, held on Sept 19, at Unity Hall, part of Unity Fellowship Church of Christ, in Brooklyn, was organized by a group of seven men and women from the island nation of St. Lucia, Fabulous Lucians, and fielded five contestants representing St. Lucia, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and Martinique.

 

 
Ms. Barbados
The show which began some 45-minutes after its scheduled 8:00pm start time, as explained by one of the organizers was due to of the three two judges being late, sputtered to life with introductions by the MC. Ms. Sequin and solo performances by Shania, Nick Brently, and Ms. Bermuda.

To the estimated crowd of 200 people, in a hall that serves as a make-shift church, and to the sounds of Calypso the five contestants, Ms. Jamaica; Frantica Boujoules, St. Lucia; Rehanna B., Barbados; Madame Fleur de Fleur, Martinique, one of the French Caribbean islands; and Vanessa Flowers, from Guyana; emerged from behind heavy pink curtains on to the stage, dressed as women in a carnival, and introduced themselves to the judges and audience.

Divided into four segments, the pageant consisted of talent, beachwear, an interview, and evening wear. During the talent segment, Ms. St. Lucia performed a tribute to her homeland and which received loud and sustained audience appreciation; Ms. Barbados appeared on stage wearing a bathrobe and enacted a short skit reminiscent of the spat between her assumed namesake, Barbados pop singer Rihanna and Chris Brown, then performed a dance to Whitney Houston's "Why does it hurt so bad?"

Ms. Guyana

Dressed in a traditional Indian belly dancer's costume, Ms. Guyana drew on her Indian heritage and performed a dance to a fusion of house and Indian music; Ms. Jamaica in her talent performance simulated reggae, cum dancehall movements to a musical dancehall compilation; and with an elaborate stage prop of a replica of a house, Ms. Martinique sang about not tolerating cheating.

During the beachwear segment, while the other contestants took pains and were creative with their ensembles, Ms. Jamaica appeared on stage with a black bathing suit, a black hat, swathed in netting, and an exposed breast with the nipple barely covered.

She proceeded to perform dance routines to dancehall music, which included moments when she balanced herself precariously at the edge of the stage, turned her back - the bottom portion of the swim suit thong-like wedged between her buttock cheeks and shook her exposed buttocks at the audience; then with flips and splits, jumped onto a covered baby grand piano belonging to the church, and performed a lewd gyration simulating sex with legs open, in the air and revealing an improperly maintained pubic region.

 

 
Evening wear
 
The Fabulos Lucians
Many in the audience were aghast and shocked by the display, some commenting that if it was at the Apollo's Amateur Night, she would be booed off the stage. Ms. St. Lucia wearing a white bathing suit decorated with tropical flowers creating an illusion of an enchanted forest and Ms. Barbados in swimwear with a theme which was intended to convey her nation's rum, "Cockspur on the rocks on a hot summer night," returned some semblance of class to the segment.

At about 10:45, the MC declared a 25-minute intermission, so that the contestants could change. But while the length the intermission was unusual, it offered the audience an opportunity to avail themselves of the cash bar and food sales. For some unknown reason the 25-minute intermission became an hour, by which time people had begun to leave and an air of disinterest had settled over those remaining in the audience.

 
Andre Clark

Now close to midnight, the MC reappeared on stage and the pageant resumed with a solo "Scent of a Woman" performed by the Jamaican actor and singer Andrew Clarke, whose rendition stirred the otherwise wilting audience back to life, showing their appreciation with cheers and catcalls, for the second half. Appearing from the back of the room, Clarke proceeded to the stage, while singing, flirted with many women in the audience.

Following his performance, the MC announced that the reigning Ms. 2004 Gay St. Lucia, Ms. Sapphire, would perform her final walk as queen. She appeared dressed in a blue gown that was designed by a fellow St. Lucian.

In the final two pageant segments, evening wear and interview, Ms. St. Lucia appeared in a purple floor length gown, opened at the back; Ms. Guyana in a green with black polka-dots off the shoulder evening gown; Ms. Jamaica's while dress with a single gold stripe up the middle and a floor to mid-thigh slit, which she kept opening to reveal her thighs; Ms. Martinique in an orange gown; and Ms. Barbados in a white and gold off the shoulder gown with elbow length gloves, and a white floral decoration in her hair.

 
Judges
For the interview segment, each contestant was asked to pick a number, one to three, from a container and depending on the number the corresponding judge would ask a question. Ms. St. Lucia said that she'd like the audience to leave with an acceptance of homosexuality in response to the question about what message the audience should take from the pageant.

When asked to share her thoughts on whether or not men should engage in unprotected sex even in a committed relationship, Ms. Barbados replied that she believed that a person should not have any unprotected sex. Ms. Guyana, when asked what she learned from participating in the pageant, said that she learned to be herself and to accept who she is at all times.

 

Ms. 2009 Gay Caribbean - Ms. Jamaica

Ms. Jamaica in her response to a hypothetical question about what charity she would work with and why if she was given $1M, said that she would work with HIV/AIDS agencies and to help find a cure for HIV.

Finally, Ms. Martinique acknowledged in her response, to a question on what message she would give to Caribbean youth that even though she has been through a lot in her life, that people should continue to do good, despite what happens.

By this time in the program, several audience members were betting and predicting who they thought would win: for the final, first and second positions, many wagered, a tight race between Ms. St. Lucia and Ms. Guyana.

At the conclusion of the interview segment, the MC announced another 10-minute break for the judges to deliberate. Returning to stage, the MC announced the contestants' points standing: Ms. Martinique earned 359 points; Ms. Barbados, 471; Ms. St. Lucia, 477; Ms. Guyana, 495; and to loud gasps and protests, Ms. Jamaica was declared winner and was crowned the 2009 Ms. Gay Caribbean.