“ We mean business.” That’s the mindset of the principals of Crown of Beauty Jamaica — the company established to take up the franchise of the Miss Jamaica World beauty pageant — as they prepare to make their maiden presentation later this year.

The company headed by renowned entertainment personality Weston Haughton and theatre practitioner Aston Cooke takes over the franchise from Mickey Haughton-James, under whose stewardship Jamaica brought home the Miss World title on two occasions — Cindy Breakespeare in 1976 and Lisa Hanna in 1993.

Haughton revealed to the Jamaica Observer that plans for the coronation of its first queen in September will be unveiled during a launch in Kingston on April 18.

“The company, Crown of Beauty Jamaica, will not only handle the pageant, but we will do other projects such as fashion shows and other entertainment ventures. It’s not just a Weston and Aston thing. The thing is, Aston is known as an award-winning playwright, but he is amazing when it comes to logistics. Together we really make a good team and what we want to do is maintain that international recognition and profile that Jamaica has in the world of international pageants.”

“It is very important to have people understand that this is a professional organisation from the get-go. So there will be full contracts for our winner outlining all the details and setting out what are her obligations as well as ours, especially as it relates to prizes, etc,” Haughton stressed.

With the general decline in the popularity of such pageants, the new franchise holders are aware of the work they must do to build the image of the competition.

“We are working to take it back to when Miss Jamaica was Miss Jamaica. We believe it starts with selecting the right girl to represent our country on the international stage. So we want to find that girl that Jamaicans can see as their queen. The slogan of ‘Beauty with a Purpose’ is strong on our agenda. We want contestants to come into the pageant with their projects — not saying if they win this will be their platform — so that they are already known in communities and have a feel for working on such projects,” said Haughton.

He had nothing but highest praises for the work being done by reigning queen Solange Sinclair, who finished in the Top 10 at Miss World. Describing her as “a natural… a beauty both inside and out”, Haughton noted that his team is looking for that girl who can maintain these high standards.

Haughton and Cooke have assembled a team of professionals to stage the pageant. Miss Jamaica World 1978 Joan McDonald; broadcaster, theatre practitioner and National Festival Queen 1990 Dahlia Harris ; former Miss Jamaica World finalists Cecile Burrowes, Roxene Nickle and Maya Wilkinson have been included in their team. Attorney and Mr Jamaica 1997 Richard Nevers has also been taken on as legal advisor.

Jamaica has had an impressive showing at the Miss World pageant over the years. In addition to three wins, a number of Jamaican queens have finished in the top 10 and have taken home the regional title of ‘Queen of beauty for the Caribbean’.

— Richard Johnson