THIS evening 13 finalists will vie for the title of Miss Jamaica (World) Middlesex at Golf View Hotel in Manchester.

The event — with the motto is ‘Beauty with a Purpose’ — will be under staged the theme Celebrating Jamaica’s 50th year of Independence. It is scheduled for an 8:00 pm start.

Nikki Murray, pageant franchise holder, said this year’s contestants all have a common thread.

“They’re all students of high and tertiary institutions. They are all studying,” she said. “They are between age 17 and 22, and are from the parishes of Clarendon, Manchester, St Ann, and St Elizabeth.”

The entrants are to judged on the traditional categories of awareness, congeniality, figure, and personality. However, this year, there is to be an added criterion.

“We’ve added punctuality to that list as we notice that this is a major problem in Jamaica,” Murray said.

The winner of Miss Jamaica (World) Middlesex will get an automatic selection for Miss Jamaica World Elimination to be held in the Corporate Area.

“So, our competition is a precursor to the Kingston final,” she said.

The annual competition, which had its origin in 1992, was formerly known as the Miss Jamaica World Western Beauty Pageant.

And, according to Murray, the pageant assists and promotes the growth and development of the individual’s skills relating to self-esteem, confidence, poise speech and diction also aiding in providing a better sense of worth for the nations young women.

This year’s charity event was to raise funds for the children’s ward of the Percy Junor Hospital in Manchester.

The entertainment package at the event includes reggae artiste Tami Chynn.