Miss SVG 2004 - Javorne Williams
My first show was when I was in secondary school, I was asked to enter the Miss GHS Environmental Pageant. The show was being put on by the Young leaders of which I was a part; it was a fundraising effort to help with the project for that year. I entered the show, which to me was always for fun. I never took pageants seriously because I never saw myself going further than a school show.
In 2003 while a student at the SVG Community College my sister was asked to enter the Miss East St. George show but she was unable to so the organizers then asked me to enter the show in her place as a representative for my village. So I said yes and started preparations for the show. It wasn’t always an easy road to walk being the tomboy that I was but as I said before I was just having fun.
From my days at the Brighton Primary School I was always involved in drama and also loved it. I took my acting skills to the Girls’ High School and developed them as part of the drama club. The skills that I learnt in both schools helped me in my different pageants in that I always did a dramatic presentation for my talent.
In the Miss East St. George show I placed second runner-up, but little did I know that this was only a stepping stone to another show or should I say other shows. J So after that show I went back to my normal life as a college student until a couple months later I got a call from the organizers of the Miss East St. George show asking me if I wanted to enter the national Miss SVG show.
I would admit to being surprised because little old cadet like me never saw myself as being in the Miss SVG show. I mean the Miss SVG show is a whole different ball game and it is on a bigger scale. You enter the rural shows and not everyone is all up in your life but then you enter the national show and your entire life goes under the microscope. Everything that you would have done in the past come to light, your entire family is scrutinized.
The organizer asked me to meet the Chairperson of the beauty shows committee and I was asked to fill out the application form and show up for the first training session. There is where you can say I was signed and sealed as a contestant in the Miss SVG 2004 show. I accepted the challenge of entering the show and putting my life out there against the wishes of my mother. My mother though a supporter of my wishes and dreams was against my entering another show because she believed that I had been cheated in the Miss East St. George show and should have been crowned Queen.
Mommy however put all that aside and quickly joined my support group…lol. My entire family was always at my side with good wishes and best of luck. If it’s one thing I learnt from entering the Miss SVG show was that you get to see who your true friends are when u decide to enter something this big. Ok so back to my journey through the entire show and after.
For eight months eight of us went through rigorous training in fitness, etiquette, modeling, diction, fashion and make up. What we didn’t know we learnt along the way. It was a lovely bunch of us, we all got along and most of us today are still very good friends with each other.
Dealing with criticism
The criticism was a bit difficult to deal with at first but I got through it and persevered despite it. There were a lot of people who believed in me and wanted to see me through this experience. I wrote my talent and with the help of Mr. Howie Prince who was selected to work with us the contestants to bring out our true talent in the show it was a hot with the crowd at the show. He was helpful and helped me to bring out my acting abilities, which I must admit I was a bit shy about doing for this show.
The Miss SVG show somehow made me a different person in that I was always a very outgoing and vocal person and I had to become a lady. Yes I said it a lady, because as I said earlier in this story I was a tomboy. Having grown up around males and being one of the boys in that I was a cadet and was always more friends with the guys than the ladies. I dressed like a boy and I even sported a man-head.
Miss SVG made me more aware of my feminine ways, I wore more skirts and I wore make-up everyday even if I was just going across the street to the neighbour’s house. I had to wear high heels at all times and never flats. I remember one time that I went into town in a pair of blue jeans, white vest along with my Old Navy slippers and matching bag and someone called the Chairperson of the Beauty Shows Committee telling her that I was in town in flip flops. I mean come on it was just a pair of slippers. She then called me making noise about my dress code in town.
Eventually it came time for the show and all my nerves were kicking into high gear. My night started off bad in that we had to select out cubicle the day before the show and I did but when I got there the other night another contestant had gone and taken my spot. My chaperone was in a fit for me to get back my cubicle; she made the other girl move.
So we got the show started with the costumes and dance that we had practiced. The show progressed smoothly and was very well received. I went through the different segments doing the best that I could do. At the end of the show I was so tired that all I wanted to do was see my bed and sleep. However this was not to be. The judges were back with the results after a long break of over 2 hours of guest appearances.
All of us contestants returned to the stage to await the queen being crowned. First we were all given a trophy for participating and then the various segment winners were announced along with the Miss Photogenic, Congeniality. I did not get any of those awards but was awarded the Most Community Spirited Contestant for my involvement in various community groups such as the JEMS group, the Cadet Force of which I was a Staff Sergeant at the time, the Image Modeling Agency and other groups.
As I said I didn’t get any of the top awards. I was on stage having a conversation with a fellow contestant as they announced the second and first runner-ups but I was thinking to myself what was going to eat when the show ended.
We were there talking and I heard but I wasn’t listening when my name was called as the winner of the show. It was not until the contestant that I was talking to looked at me and said “Javorne you win” did u realize that I had won the Miss SVG 2004 show. I was shocked and surprised. I was crowned Miss SVG in the wee hours of Sunday morning May 30th 2004.
Shock of a Life-time
The criticism was a bit difficult to deal with at first but I got through it and persevered despite it. There were a lot of people who believed in me and wanted to see me through this experience. I wrote my talent and with the help of Mr. Howie Prince who was selected to work with us the contestants to bring out our true talent in the show it was a hot with the crowd at the show. He was helpful and helped me to bring out my acting abilities, which I must admit I was a bit shy about doing for this show.
The Miss SVG show somehow made me a different person in that I was always a very outgoing and vocal person and I had to become a lady. Yes I said it a lady, because as I said earlier in this story I was a tomboy. Having grown up around males and being one of the boys in that I was a cadet and was always more friends with the guys than the ladies. I dressed like a boy and I even sported a man-head.
Miss SVG made me more aware of my feminine ways, I wore more skirts and I wore make-up everyday even if I was just going across the street to the neighbour’s house. I had to wear high heels at all times and never flats. I remember one time that I went into town in a pair of blue jeans, white vest along with my Old Navy slippers and matching bag and someone called the Chairperson of the Beauty Shows Committee telling her that I was in town in flip flops. I mean come on it was just a pair of slippers. Shethen called me making noise about my dress code in town.
Eventually it came time for the show and all my nerves were kicking into high gear. My night started off bad in that we had to select out cubicle the day before the show and I did but when I got there the other night another contestant had gone and taken my spot. My chaperone was in a fit for me to get back my cubicle; she made the other girl move.
So we got the show started with the costumes and dance that we had practiced. The show progressed smoothly and was very well received. I went through the different segments doing the best that I could do. At the end of the show I was so tired that all I wanted to do was see my bed and sleep. However this was not to be. The judges were back with the resultsafter a long break of over 2 hours of guest appearances.
All of us contestants returned to the stage to await the queen being crowned. First we were all given a trophy for participating and then the various segment winners were announced along with the Miss Photogenic, Congeniality. I did not get any of those awards but was awarded the Most Community Spirited Contestant for my involvement in various community groups such as the JEMS group, the Cadet Force of which I was a Staff Sergeant at the time, the Image Modeling Agency and other groups.
As I said I didn’t get any of the top awards. I was on stage having a conversation with a fellow contestant as they announced the second and first runner-ups but I was thinking to myself what was going to eat when the show ended.
We were there talking and I heard but I wasn’t listening when my name was called as the winner of the show. It was not until the contestant that I was talking to looked at me and said “Javorne you win” did u realize that I had won the Miss SVG 2004 show. I was shocked and surprised. I was crowned Miss SVG in the wee hours of Sunday morning May 30th 2004.
This is where my life took a different turn. I was now a queen of my country and the public was looking at me as a role model so I now had to watch everything I did, said and wore before it was done. My life was being scrutinized even more now that I had won than when I was just a contestant. I was an ambassador for my country.
On the Wednesday I was accepted to the UWI Cave Hill Campus to pursue a BA in Linguistics, which meant that I was leaving the country during my reign. I represented the CDC at various functions and was involved in numerous cultural engagements as queen of my country.
As the winner of the national show I then had to represent my country at the Miss Carival show which was 1 month away from the Miss SVG show. Preparations were hectic for this show and I was able to meet different contestants from across the region most of whom today I am still in contact with.
Ms. Carival and beyond
The Miss Carival show was a very good experience for me and I must say that I enjoyed myself during preparations. The week leading up to the show all the contestants from the different islands came to St. Vincent and we stayed at the Young Island Resort, which is an island just off the south of St. Vincent and has been listed as one of the best resorts in the world in various tourism magazines.
Two days before the actual show I had to be rushed to the Hospital. We were out at a function when my ears started hurting which lead to my crying. I cried in public, yes I did, I know it’s not becoming of a queen but when u in pain all else goes out the door. The doctors at the hospital said I had an ear infection due to the excessive practice sessions that I was involved in for my talent( I was to play the saxophone). That meant I had to get a new talent because I wasn’t allowed to play it anymore.
I then had to write a new talent and that was somewhat stressful. The show came off and I did not place nor did I win any of the judgedcategories. This meant I was now going to Antigua the next month for the Miss Jaycees Caribbean Queen Show. This is one of the big shows in the Caribbean, a lot more contestants than in the Miss SVG and Miss Carival shows.
I traveled to Antigua with a chaperone to be a part of this prestigious show. My Jaycees trip was good and I met some of the same girls that were in my country the previous month for the Miss Carival show. I did not place in this show either but I did enjoy myself. I returned to St. Vincent to continue my duties as queen.
I was going off to Barbados to pursue my studies at the end of August so I didn’t get much opportunity after returning from Antigua to perform my royal duties.
I did return to St. Vincent to hand over my crown in 2005. The most I can say is that I appreciated the opportunity to represent my country at different levels and was thankful to the people of St. Vincent for their support and love despite the minor hiccoughs during my reign. To this day I am still looked at as the Miss SVG 2004 and certain things are still expected of me as a former Queen.
To do it all over again I would because I was honoured to have been my country’s ambassador for the year.