Lindener is Miss Talented Teen 2009

Oct 05, 2009 News

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Seventeen-year-old Lindener, Jenelle Babb, prevailed from a field of ten to win the Miss Guyana Talented Teen Pageant 2009.

She was not favoured at the beginning to win the title, except for the large Linden contingent in the audience that cheered at her every move.

First runner-up was awarded to Analissa Austin, Kishwana Jefford was second runner-up with Marissa Adams third runner-up and Sarah Ghannie fourth runner-up.

As Jenelle Bobb took her first walk as Miss Talented Teen 2009, tears of joy flowed.

In a brief interview with Kaieteur News the aspiring linguist said she will be enrolling shortly at the University of Guyana to pursue a Degree in English Language.

The pageant, which was slated to commence at 20:00 hrs at the Duke Lodge in Kingston, never got started until 21:15 hrs.

The pageant started with a dance from Melissa Payne, former Miss Guyana Universe.

She did an interpretive piece to the popular song “Tonight’s gonna be a good night.”

For many the night was contrary to what the lyrics proclaimed.

The ten delegates, Ruqayyah Boyer, Madonna Ghannie, Annalisa Austin, Criselle Alleyne, Kiswana Jefford, Teneisa Piggot, Jenelle Babb, Sarah Gannie, Meenashki Khubir and Marissa Adams emerged from the small tents at the sides of the stage.

In the swimsuit segment, the ten young ladies really came into their own, but delegate number two, Madonna Ghannie, with her petite figure and pretty face, stood out along with the eventual winner, Jenelle Babb, who smiled radiantly throughout and strutted her stuff like a professional.

During this segment the lone stage light went out, much to the disgust of the audience.

Save for that technical glitch, the swimsuit segment saved the night for an otherwise ordinary pageant.

 

Talent Explosion

There was a paucity of talent in this segment that went on for a considerably long time. Marissa Adams who danced a medley of songs was the best in this segment to many patrons. However, she was not bestowed with that prize at the end of the programme. It was awarded to Sarah Ghannie who sang “Family Portrait”.

The other outstanding performer in that segment was Annalisa Austin, who danced an Indian song that would have made many qualified Indian dancers proud.

When this segment was over the crowd was treated to a series of dances by the energetic and omnipresent Classique Dance Group. They enlivened the crowd, which was hushed into silence by the talent segment, with a series of moves that many saw before albeit energetic.

 

Evening Gown Segment

Of the ten delegates, Madonna Ghannie stole the show in a red Melissa Payne designed shimmering Cinderella frock, which complemented her beauty and figure. It is still unclear to many how she did not make the final five, since she looked outstanding. But it was in this segment that the eventual queen began to make her move. She grew in confidence as the show went on. She too looked delightful in a red and gold off the shoulder dress as her supporters from the mining town became louder in their support for the teen.

Others that stood out in this segment were Marissa Adams, Sarah Ghannie and Kishwana Jefford.

In the end, the judges selected Marissa Adams, Sarah Ghannie, Analissa Austin, Jenelle Babb and Kiswana Jefford as the final five.

 

Question and Answer Segment

Marissa Adams was the first to select her question from a bowl on the stage. The question came from judge number three and he asked, who was her hero and why? Her response was: “There are many persons that influenced me in life but the one that influenced me the most is Miss Pamela Dillion”, the pageant co-ordinator.

Up next was Sarah Ghannie, and she was asked: If you are crowned Miss Guyana talented Teen 2009 what will be your greatest challenge? She answered something to the effect that she will want to please Guyanese with all she does, repeating the same response a few times.

When Analissa Austin took the microphone for her question which asked, do you think one person can make a difference in the world? Although she did not nail the question, her response was the best to many observers. She said she thought that one person can make a difference by smiling and brightening up someone’s day. When it was Jenelle Babb’s turn at the question she was asked: What was the most selfless thing she has ever done and why? She said visiting the Mahaica Children’s Home and giving assistance to the less fortunate children there. This brought rapturous applause from the audience. Kishwana Jefford came last and was asked, if you win tonight what will you do differently tomorrow? She said “from the moment I entered the pageant it has changed me, the pageant taught me to be smarter, wiser and she went on and on missing the plot completely. It must be said that none of the delegates nailed the questions.

In the end at 1:20 hours Sunday morning the judges declared Jenelle Babb the queen. 

 

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