Amel Griffith did it again! 

The National Cultural Center couldn’t have contained the resounding screams from the massive crowd, when Guyana’s Amel Griffith was announced winner of the inaugural Miss Cricket Carnival crown and title last evening.

Amel was crowned Miss Jamzone in August, giving her just a few weeks to prepare for this international pageant after being selected to represent Guyana. 

As such, the pressure was certainly intense for the young queen to keep the inaugural crown home, but she didn’t disappoint! Amel handled each segment with the perfect combination of confidence, charisma, poise and elegance, making it tough for any of the visiting queens to dominate. 

However, it was a close call between St Lucia’s Claire-Marissa Smartt and Barbados’ Beviny Ashley Payne, who were both strong competitors, placing second and first runners up, respectively. 

When the curtains opened and the lights hit the stage, the opening scene saw the six delegates introducing themselves while showcasing extravagant costumes that depicted aspects of their home country. The flamboyant colours and designs, complimented by the stage decor and lights, set an exhilarating tone for the rest of the evening. 

One time was not enough for the eyes to take in every carefully placed feather, bead, stone and other materials used on the costumes, so the delegates returned individually, to adequately display the handy works of their designers. Miss St Lucia walked away with the prize for Best Costume. 

It was her walk, confidence, evenly toned body, and neatly sewn, blue, sequined swimwear embellished with rhinestones, tied with her unmatched skills in the display on stage, that allowed Miss St Lucia to also secure the Best Swimwear prize. This performance won over the predominantly Guyanese audience, who then started to cheer loudly in support of Miss St Lucia. 

Three entertaining dances and two moving spoken word pieces were five of the talent performances witnessed. Miss Guyana’s cultural fusion however, stole the show and was adjudged the Best Talent. Her piece summed up the six cultures of the 592, flawlessly delivered through poetry, song and dance, mirroring her performance in talent at Miss Jamzone, with added perfection. 

The evening gowns were the highlight of the evening. Every delegate came out on stage, royally adorned in shimmering designer gowns that sparkled under the lights. While all the pieces were regal, Randy Madray’s show stopping orange gown on Miss Guyana, seized the winning award.

With St Lucia already winning two special prizes and Guyana, three (she also won the People’s Choice award), the crowd started to announce top 3, as they already knew the spots were obviously coveted by Guyana, St Lucia and Barbados! 

Trinidad and Tobago’s Melanie Lawrence, Jamaica’s Tyra Spaulding and St Kitts & Nevis’ Chalisa Parris did not advance.

By this time, nervousness filled the auditorium, pushing everyone to edge of the their seats as it was time for the defining moment that would ultimately determine the queen. 

With the performances from Beviny (Barbados) and Claire-Marissa (St Lucia), the crown could have gone to any of the two, but Guyana was adamant about emerging victorious. As such, she brought substance and confidence like no other, and poured it into her delivery when host Feliz Robertson asked “your pageant sister visited your country for vacation, which tourist destination would be a ‘must see’ and why?)

Judges; Lyndell Danzie-Black, Christian Sobers, Emerson Campbell & Carol Fraser had the toughest of jobs in the room, but the crowd was pleased with the results.

Other entertainment throughout the night came from Miss Jamzone 2022 delegate, Shaniya DeCosta, Mark Luke-Edwards, Aliya Wong, Jose Roberts and Joshua Bascom.