Twenty-three-year-old Alicia Bess, who on July 2, outshone two other beauties to become Miss Jamzone Guyana 2013, says that despite her success there is much she needs to do to prepare for the pageant’s upcoming international leg.
Alicia, along with Ashley Cameron and Christel Mittelholzer, 
had taken part in a month-long evaluation process which took the form of a TV reality show. She said that both Ashley and Christel provided stiff competition throughout the selection process, each working extremely hard in her own right.
Never doubting herself, however, Alicia said she was always confident that she could emerge on top.
Debra Allen, a St Lucia-based Guyanese designer and one of the judges for the Miss Jamzone Guyana screening process, said Alicia was her pick from the start.
Debra said Alicia demonstrated knowledge of whatever she spoke on, and could expand quite well on topics put to her, albeit too much at times. She also said that Alicia possessed a regal demeanour and appeared quite sophisticated.
She said that during the selection process, she was tough on the ebony belle because she saw and still sees a tremendous amount of potential that can still be realised.
Offering words of advice though, she said Alicia should be careful and not allow her win to get to her head. While she performed well, Debra said, there was much Alicia needed to work on and added that if Alicia does not remain humble she may just see disastrous consequences.
For the entire month, the young women were exposed to various challenges that would test their readiness to carry the hopes and aspirations of those Guyanese who long to see the Miss Jamzone International crown remain in Guyana. Since the international leg of the pageant was launched in 2010, Guyana has never been able to retain the crown.
Alicia, however, who seemed humble despite her win, said that she is confident of her abilities to capture the international crown. Echoing Debra’s own convictions, she said that there are many things she needs to refine before this is possible.
This includes working on her runway walk. She expressed optimism though, about being able to master this area since she will be assisted by the very talented Meleesa Payne. Meleesa, who is perhaps the best runaway model Guyana has produced to date, is also a queen in many regards having captured her fair share of crowns, including the Guyana Universe crown in 2007; and having represented Guyana at several international competitions.
Alicia said she will be doing a lot of toning to hone the bombshell figure she intends to unleash when she goes up against her Caribbean competitors next month. She added that she will be working on her speech since her country slang tends to creep into her sentences when she speaks.
She said though, that she is already mentally prepared for what is to come, and expressed confidence that when she is fully refined she will be a force for the other Caribbean belles to reckon with.
Alicia said the road to becoming Miss Jamzone Guyana was mind-blowing and said many of the experiences were life changing.
Asked what was her favourite experience, she had a hard time choosing but eventually settled on the swimsuit photo-shoot. It was during that event, she said, that she was able to let loose. She added that this was the first time she got to meet and interact with the girls she would eventually beat out to cop the crown.
