THERE was strong competition at Kingston’s Spartan Health Club on Sunday as more that 60 beauties from across the country drawn from an initial pool of 125 applications, vied for one of the top 20 spots available for Miss Jamaica World 2011.

The seven judges had the difficult task of narrowing the cut of the plethora of beauties who came out at the auditions. In recent years, the pageant has cut the number of finalists down to 16, but this year, the judges saw such a high standard in the contestants that they had to increase the count to include four additional ladies.

The judging panel included industry experts such as Sara Lawrence (Miss Caribbean continental queen of beauty, Miss World ’06), Damion Shaw (corporate image consultant), Tommy James (chief judge), Karl Williams (designer) and Mickey Haughton-James (franchise holder).

The 2:30 pm start time saw the ladies parading for the judges in swimwear. Later on they were called in individually for a more detailed and personal session with the judges where they showcased not only their figure but also their stance, smile and overall poise.

After viewing all 60 beauties, a verdict was finally met by all the judges.

Chief judge Tommy James expressed delight at the number of outstanding girls that turned out and stated: “It was a very difficult choice, to choose these top 20 ladies. When you think of all the 60 ladies who came out and all the opportunities that were given to them to increase their chances in the eliminations today, most were in fine condition and so that made it a hard choice but we were happy with our decision of these 20 girls for the competition,” he ended.

The judges scores and ultimately their decision for the top 20 were based on the following criteria and to what extent each girl possessed the elements of the listed criteria which were: beauty of face and figure, personality and the ability to converse.

The 20 finalists will make their first public appearance during a parade at the Sovereign Centre in St Andrew on July 23.