THE reigning Miss Jamaica Caribbean Talented TEEN Aba Sykes recently won the first runner-up title in the prestigious Haynes Smith Caribbean Talented TEEN Queen 2011/2012 pageant held on December in Basseterre, St Kitts.

EighTEEN-year-old Sykes walked away with an overall total of 753 points. She beat out 10 other competitors from across the Caribbean region.

Sykes also wowed the audience in the talent segment, receiving a total of 335 points. She performed a roots reggae medley of Etana and Ikaya songs in a piece entitled Never Let Them Get You Down. Her talent’s message was about self-upliftment and reminded the audience about keeping their head high even through life’s rough challenges.

She also amassed one of the top scores for evening gown with a bright orange sequined gown entitled Caribbean sunset, and blew the audience away in the Ambassadorial appearance, decked out in the Jamaican colours, where she spoke about the accomplishment of our Jamaican athletes in 2011 World Athletic Championships.

Sykes is currently an upper-sixth form student of the Immaculate Conception High School. She intends to pursue her dream career in the field of Media and Mass Communication at a university locally or overseas. She has very strong views about self-motivation and self-esteem and intends to share these views during her reign as Miss Jamaica Caribbean Talented TEEN 2011/12.

In the Haynes Smith Miss Caribbean Talented Teen Pageant, Miss St Kitts Sobia Phipps won the crown with 826 points, Miss British Virgin Islands, Ashellica Fahie, won the second runner-up position with 695.5, and closing out the top positions at third runner-up was Miss Anguilla, Keivanee Lake, with 693.45.

The other young ladies who took part in the competition were: Bailey Dukes, representing the United States Virgin Islands; Miss Antigua & Barbuda, Aaliyah Thomas; Miss Bahamas, Monesha Bowleg; Miss Barbados, Sacha Clarke; Miss Grenada, Kande Duncan; Miss Nevis, Erica Doras; Miss St Lucia, Kadijha Mason; and Miss Bermuda, Shaunte Simon.

St Kitts’s deputy prime minister Sam Condor had the honour of crowning the new queen as part of the award ceremony.

Title sponsors Digicel gave BlackBerry phones to the top winners, and both Phipps and Sykes also received a laptop and digital camera from the minister.

Entertainment for the evening featured top local artistes. Reggae star Masud Sadiki opened the show with his hits A Stitch In Time, and Party Hearty, while headliner for the night, Infamus, engaged the audience as he sang his popular tunes.

Auditions for the Miss Jamaica Caribbean Talented TEEN 2012 are slated to be held soon. Interested applicants may apply online on at www.promotionallinksindustries.com.