By Iana Seales

Move over Michael Younge and that other girl who barely featured after last year’s Model Search, there’s fresh attitude and two hot new bods on the catwalk.

Guyana’s top models Jermaine Victor and Yolande Kerr (Photo courtesy of Guyana Model Search/chase)

The perils of the local catwalk are many — from the pessimistic atmosphere of never getting past the airport for a show to the quiet tussles for any work whether unpaid or ‘to be remunerated later’. Truth is many hopefuls don’t have any real appeal.

Guyana Model Search certainly exposes the ambitious lot out there and they are many. The ones who made it into the final run off on Sunday night last at the Princess Buddy’s Hotel were among a crowded pack who clamoured for a spot in the line-up.

But often there is one person, for instance a hot-bodied young woman with a killer smile who storms out in a pair of stilettos and an afro wig and simply burns the catwalk up. She is quirky. She is fun. She is different. She is Yolanda Kerr, Guyana’s reigning top model.

Yolanda is exciting and exactly what the local catwalk has been waiting for. She struts her stuff with focus and finesse- the kind we have seen Meleesa Payne pull off time and time again while silently praying that someone out there was going to follow her soon.

Meleesa, always in form and unrivalled, modelled on Sunday night as Sonia Noel’s second installment of GMS wrapped up before a capacity crowd. She owned the runaway as usual, but surprisingly shared it with Yolanda.

Guyana’s top model (female) Yolanda Kerr

Guyana’s top model (male) Jermaine Victor

So there they were Meleesa and Yolanda, appearing every few minutes often for separate collections and stealing the spotlight.

A few others impressed though, like Rahul Lall and Samantha Harris.

The leggy Samantha actually grabbed the runner-up spot behind Yolanda. She looked fierce all night and magazine-cover ready but there was no spark; nothing to last beyond a brief attention span.

Lall was simply eccentric, in a rock-punk sort of way.

Best runway model Shellon Fraser

Rahul Lall

The male top model race was wide open though eventual winner Jermaine Victor did stand out with his boyish good looks, irresistible charm and that “look at me” attitude.

Jermaine has natural suave, as did a few other guys, and while many just modelled the clothing he flaunted his looks and the clothing. He even sexed things up a bit, often licking his lips when he stared into the camera and also touching his torso.

The results this year drew more controlled reactions than previously displayed– no one fainted and there were no overly dramatic and emotional responses.  But there was a sudden, wild and racy dance from Jermaine when he realized that he had won.

Of the designers introduced only three ignited interest and the deserving collection by Ronella Woseley got the nod as the most promising of the night. Woseley offered up steamy bikinis, tailored pants and stylish jackets, flowing dresses and a show-stopping black lace gown that stunned the audience into complete silence.

Other notable collections came from John Quelch and Zarena Hamid. Both designers had a unique sense of style. Zarena went for an African-inspired line of mostly hand-painted pieces while John had a variety of dresses sporting new cuts and designs.

Sonia’s effort at cultivating a new crop of designers is to be commended as the youths on stage delivered fairly strong collections, and there were some obvious babies in the bunch.

There were a few drab pieces in some of the collections while others heavily depended on the stylists to improve their work.

And for the first time Sonia selected a stylist from a crop of daring, eccentric hopefuls. One look at the top stylist, Dorian D’Olivera and it was obvious he has a flair for dressing people. What was unclear was which collections and clothing he rescued with his touch.

(ianaseales@yahoo.com)