Changes coming for Miss Jamaica World pageant

Changes will be implemented for this year’s staging of the Miss Jamaica World beauty pageant. At a sashing exercise and the Beach Beauty Fast Track competition held at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on Tuesday night, Dahlia Harris, of the Miss Jamaica World Organization, gave an insight into how the new titleholder will be selected. “Forty per cent of each contestant’s overall assessment will come from her performance throughout the training and development programme, while 60 per cent will come from the judges’ assessment. Why have we made this change? Because we believe that how a young woman conducts herself throughout the journey is just as important as how she performs when she steps in front of the judges,” Harris told the Jamaica Observer. “We want to reward punctuality, participation, discipline, deportment, commitment, and a willingness to learn. We want contestants to understand that professionalism is not something you switch on when the spotlight comes on. It is demonstrated in how you show up, how you treat people, how you respond to challenges, and how seriously you take the opportunities presented to you. The crown should represent more than a performance on one evening; it should reflect the character, consistency, and commitment demonstrated throughout the competition. And we believe this revised assessment structure will help us achieve exactly that.” Instead of a Top 10, a Top 12 will be selected and comprise the winners of the 5 fasttrack competitions; namely, Beach Beauty, Talent, Fitness Challenge, Top Model, and Beauty with a Purpose. There will also be five judges’ selections and, for the very first time, the Head-to- Head and Multi-Media challenge winners. “The Challenge events are, therefore, more extensive this year. The Head-to-Head Challenge, for example, has already selected a top 10 based on their Round One performance and, on Thursday, October 15, they will compete in the semi-final and final rounds. The judges will select a Top 5 and the public will select a People’s Choice winner, who will join them to complete a Top 6,” said Harris.

Matea Mahal Smith (right) strikes a pose after being sashed by Tiffany Gowdie, brand manager for Aveeno.

Rickie Ann Witter, representing sponsor Fortis Tours and Hiking, with Shemar Bryan.

At Tuesday night’s event, the 23 finalists were sashed by their respective sponsors. Afterwards, the Beach Beauty Fast Track competition took place, with Seana’Kay Wright, who is sponsored by Southdale Hardware and Glass Supplies, taking first place. First runner-up was Matea Mahal Smith, Miss Aveeno, while medical doctor Samantha McLeod, Miss Island Smiles, was named second runner-up. Ironically, at the recent Fitness Challenge, held at the Emancipation Park in New Kingston, Smith was declared the first-place winner and Wright was her first runner-up. The coronation of Miss Jamaica World 2026 is scheduled for November 1 at Karl Hendrickson Auditorium, Jamaica College.