Sandals and Beaches Ocho Rios Region crowned its Talent and Model Search winners for 2010 at an exciting and festive event at Sandals Grande Ocho Rios last Friday. The contestants will now go on to compete against the regional winners from other Jamaican resorts at the National Finals slated for later this year.

Dwight Martin and Neishaune Powell from Beaches Boscobel emerged the top Male and Female Vocalists; Odane Foster from Sandals Grande Ocho Rios was the top Dance Act, while Prince Higgins and Latoya Brooks, both of Beaches Boscobel, walked away with prizes for Best Male and Female Models.

The event, dubbed ENCORE (Entertainment Now Creates Opportunities Rewarding Excellence), is the brainchild of Sandals Creative Director Weston Haughton, and started in 2003 to showcase the vast array of talent present in the company.

Each region: Montego Bay, Negril and Ocho Rios, staged their regional finals to select champions in the respective categories who will move on to the Jamaican finals. The Jamaican champions will compete against winners from Sandals/Beaches Resorts in St Lucia, Antigua, Turks & Caicos and the Bahamas for the International crowns.

The Female Model section was one of the highlights of the evening, as Brooks just managed to edge out Ocho Rios crowd favourites Natasia Davy and Bernadine Miller in an exciting competition.

The Female Vocalist section was also highly competitive, with Krystal Grant-Henry from Sandals Grande Ocho Rios and Theresa Batson from Royal Plantation providing stellar competition for Powell, the eventual winner. However, Powell’s superior vocal prowess and dramatic on-stage presentation proved decisive, and captured the hearts of judges and spectators.

Martin warmed the audience with his own composition, turning back the challenge of Christopher Powell to snare the top prize.

Male Model Prince Higgins had the females in the audience swooning, while the Dance Category was a fun-filled affair, with Foster’s creativity and musical selections being too hot for his competitors.

The event itself was action-packed from the moment master of ceremonies Ian Spencer introduced the contestants and they proceeded to ignite the audience with well-choreographed routines.

According to Sandals Creative Director Weston Haughton, the company, realising the need to showcase the talents of team members from the various resorts around the Caribbean, introduced a global Sandals and Beaches Talent and Model Search Competition (ENCORE) to encourage camaraderie, to motivate and to provide unique opportunities to staff to widen their horizons.