Miss Cayman Contestants Shine

It was an all white night to remember. Set in the beautiful ballroom at the Marriott Grand Cayman, the Miss Universe Cayman Islands organisation pulled out all the stops to Sash the latest line up of contestants vying to be the next Miss Universe Cayman Islands.

Hosted by the hilarious duo of  Kevin Dawkins and newly elected chairperson Catherine Tyson-Sewell, the bevy of beauties included 4 of the 5 contestants officially being sashed by their sponsors. In order of their contestant numbers the lineup was Mili Almaguer, who is sponsored by Bogle insurance Brokers ltd, Ileann Powery, sponsored by Haagen-Daz, Sydonie Barrett sponsored by Karv Gym and Tracey Campbell who is sponsored by WizCay Ltd. Contestant #5 Ayanna Woolery was not in attendance as she was off island.

Surrounded by guests dressed in all white and beautiful decor to match, the ballroom was transformed into a heavenly affair while celebrating the young ladies, who were stunning in their black gowns as they each presented riveting speeches that left the audience pondering the question of “ who will be the next queen”.

This year’s Miss Universe Cayman Islands platform is United Against Bullying who were also in attendance and a representative gave a powerful speech of gratitude for MUCI partnering with them to stop this decay in society in the form of Bullying.

In her address to the attendees, Chairperson Catherine Tyson-Sewell also spoke about how important it is to stand together and support the young women because each of them are our ambassadors and future leaders. She also spoke about Bullying being a cause that everyone should take seriously and echoed the MUCI Director Derri Dacres, who was adamant that Bullying had gone on for far too long and needs to stop.

The behind the scenes star of the night was also Miss Universe Cayman Islands 2018, who is the pageant’s  official trainer, and coordinator and also responsible for the creation of their new logo and the production of boot camp and video and photo shoots that all have been stamped as MUCI presents.  Each contestant took their moment to shine as Mili and Tracey spoke of being bullied as children, Ileann spoke of feeling the fear but doing it anyway,  and Sydonie spoke of sustainability in Cayman however each young ladies beauty, poise and intellect  represented one thing and that is that this is a race to watch and it could be anyone’s game at this point.  “Pageantry, like any sport, should be supported because of the growth and character building that can be attained from it”, said Tyson-Sewell.  “We must invest in our future one way or another because regardless of if we do our not,  the future is being built and we need a seat at the table in our country”.

It was a gorgeous night that was not to be missed and the 2nd of MUCI presents, starting with the First Look Meet the contestants Soiree’ a few weeks ago.  This pageant is one to watch as they work towards crowning the new national queen on September 2nd which will be live streamed on the Miss Universe platform for the very first time. She will then go on to represent the Cayman Islands in El Salvador later this year, standing shoulder to shoulder with over 90 contestants from all over the world. It’s a new era for Miss Universe Cayman Islands, with a fresh outlook and a new logo. Since the franchise is no longer with the Cayman Islands Government and all of the controversy behind it, the night felt like a breath of fresh air and a new beginning. Look out for the motorcade on Saturday, August 12th starting from 9:30 until 2:00pm and the pageant at the Westin hotel on September 2nd with a new addition of a preliminary competition on Sept 1st.

With entertainment from Bollywood Dance Pulse, the Philipine Dance Troup and the uber talented singer Zosia McGregror the night was filled with food,  fun, music and laughs making One thing for certain, if there is a MUCI event, you probably don’t want to miss it.