A 17-year-old of Blairmont, West Bank Berbice is the winner of the Valerie & Bunty Sari Pageant 2010 that was held at the Shieldstown Community Centre Ground last Saturday evening.
Geeta Rampersaud was crowned queen from among eight other contestants in the senior category. The first and second runner-up positions went to Leena Singh, 19 of Shieldstown and 20-year-old Neelam Ramdin of Blairmont respectively.
Ten contestants participated in the junior category which saw 10-year-old Tanuja Hardeo winning the title of queen. Seven-year-old Durwantie Chandraram of Rosignol and Wevena Persaud, 11 of Shieldstown won the first and second runner-up spots respectively.
The queens along with the first runners-up in both categories were presented with bouquets of flowers, trophies and cash prizes while the second runners-up received bouquets and trophies.
Promoters of the pageant were Valerie Barran, a dance teacher and her husband, Bunty Singh, a contestant in the Chutney Finals at the Canje Sports Complex. Singh had copped the prize for the most promising artiste.
Barran told The Scene that the idea of the pageant was “to promote youths in West Berbice with good talents.” She said many of youths would get the opportunity to participate in shows but being in a contest would get them to express their full potential.
Each contestant in both categories was required to introduce themselves, display the sari and perform a talent piece. Those in the senior category also had to answer questions based on educational topics such as drug abuse, violence against women, teenage pregnancy as well as other questions relating to the pageant.
Chief Judge for the event was a former teacher; Faneeza Shamshudeen of Cotton Tree, while the other judges were Sattie Raywat of Bath Settlement, teacher at Number 11 Primary and Shivanie Persaud.
Trophies for the pageant were sponsored by Saga General Store, Jairam Barran, Greens Massive and Sanjay’s Internet Café.
