History student Zahra Redwood created some history inside the Hilton Kingston Ballroom on Sunday night when she topped a field of 16 to be the first Rastafarian to be chosen as Miss Jamaica Universe.

Redwood, wearing the sash Miss Superior Auto Parts, also captured two sectional prizes, Most Aware and Most Congenial. Heavy crowd favourite Sanique Vacciana, Miss Villagio Gaming Lounge, was first runner-up, with Miss Lux, Sydonie McBayne finishing second runner-up.

Miss Jamaica Universe 2007, Zahra Redwood (centre) is flanked by her runners-up, Sydonie McBayne(left 2nd runner-up) and Sanique Vacciana (1st runner-up)

The amiable Redwood managed to survive a near-disastrous question-and-answer session in which her halting, overly deliberate responses were in marked contrast to the fluent delivery of radio producer Vacciana.

When asked what was on her mind during the question sessions, Redwood betrayed more than a hint of nerves. "It's hard to say just where my mind was, I guess I was all over the place," she said.
She also paid tribute to her parents for their support. Father Clive Redwood told the Observer that while it was not "in the tradition of Rastafari" to support beauty pageants, he chose to support his daughter "given that there were no outright evils in it". His wife also said she stood behind their daughter's decision, adding "she's a grown woman, and things are different with this generation today".

The contest, presented under the theme African Splendour, was augmented by musical items from violinist Jessica Yap and youth troupe Cantabile, as well as dance items from The Company Dance Theatre. These were marred by poor sound, indifferent sound, and - in the case of one dance duet - no sound (the audio tripped out about 30 seconds into the number and didn't return until almost the last movement). An impressive opener saw the contestants entering in sync with members of the dance company and segueing into their own chorus.

One would normally not wish to highlight emcee mistakes, but to continually mispronounce one word - especially one as phonetically simple as 's-p-a' - is egregious enough to warrant comment. The malaprops continued ('Miss Jamaica Universe also wins a spar package') , despite audibly derisive laughter from the audience on each occasion, and even after this writer went over to the backstage area to bring the matter to the attention of the model manager. That simply is not good enough.

As Miss Jamaica Universe 2007, Redwood wins $200,000 in cash, a guaranteed modelling contract (valued at $150,000) with Pulse, a trip to New York and other prizes. She will journey to Mexico City, Mexico, where on May 29, she will vie for the Miss Universe title.

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