Reigning festival queen crowns Mellissa Studdart

Angelo Laurence, Gleaner Writer

Patrons who filled the Cecil Charlton Hall at Hargreaves Avenue to witness the crowning of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) Manchester Festival Queen for 2011 got much more than their money's worth, according to those who spoke to The Gleaner.

The eight young ladies who took aim at the crown, were all winners in their own right, as they thrilled the crowd with their talent pieces and responded to questions.

Although not a beauty contest, their beauty did not go unnoticed, along with their erudite, profound and analytical responses to questions. The judges had a difficult task.

Contestant Terrain Goulbourne, 24, of Rose Hill in south Manchester, brought the packed hall to total silence with her piece titled 'Tragedy', which depicted the poor behaviour of persons in the public passenger transport sector.

Subtly referring to the circumstances that may have lead to the accident that took the lives of four Holmwood Technical High School students in the parish recently, ahhhs, yeses and approving sighs were the only sounds heard during her delivery. At the end of her performance, an obviously touched master of ceremony, Nordia Drummond, asked for a moment of silence in honour of the students. Second runner-up Melissa Matthie, a 22-year-old from Williamsfield district, showcased the cultural talent that abounds in the parish with her drama and dance piece.

The audience made its delight known. First runner-up, Melisia Swaby, a 23-year-old teacher at deCarteret College High School, had the audience rocking with her musical piece accompanied by the JamVybz band. The other contestants - Shaniek Smith, a 23-year-old graduate of Mico University College; Nashonie Griffths, an 18-year-old student at Northern Caribbean University (NCU); Kaydian Meade, a 19-year-old student of Careers Academy; and Terrena Walker, a 21-year-old student at The University of the West Indies Open Campus - all left their mark as cultural ambassadors with their performances. However, at the end of the evening it was Mellissa Studdart, a 24-year-old student at NCU, who walked a way with the crown.

Her soul-searching piece titled 'a Woman's Worth' connected with the audiences as she called on women to put value on themselves and not leave it up to their male partners or circumstance to determine who they are or what they achieve. She will be representing the parish in the JCDC national competition to be held in Kingston later this year. That competition will be to select a national festival queen for 2011.

Johnel Smith, the former Miss Manchester 2010, who was on hand to crown the parish's new queen, is the reigning national Festival Queen.