KARL Williams, co-franchise holder of the Miss Universe Jamaica pageant, says Daena Soares not advancing to the semi-finals of the Miss Universe pageant on Sunday in Israel is not a reflection of her competence.

“I just wanted to say that people have all kinds of things to say [but] they haven’t looked at a few things. One of the things I want people to realise is that she [Daena] was crowned from a preliminary pageant in April. She is one of the smartest people you’ll ever know. She knows what Miss Universe requires, she went up and did everything right. Her strategy, evening gown, and everything was flawless. We had Lu Sierra as part of our pageant training and she reiterated what the ladies needed on finals night. Daena did just that. It was just not in the cards for her to advance. There was very strong competition, as there is every year, and the girls had their time to shine – that’s not to say she didn’t do well and she’s not bright,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Miss India, Harnaaz Sandhu, walked away with the crown. Miss South Africa, Lalela Mswane, one of the many contestants pressured by her own Government to boycott the controversial pageant to protest Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians, was named second runner-up. Nadia Ferreira of Paraguay was first runner-up.

Williams added that the competition is a game of probability.

“People need to understand that you can’t go every year and win. I feel so good for Miss Bahamas, for example. Bahamas has never placed, and this year they did. We’re happy for them. Daena is an exceptional young lady. Just because she didn’t place that doesn’t scrap who she is. We, at the organisation, believe in recruitment, training, and putting out our best, and it was no different this year,” he said, noting that Daena was at the Miss Universe after-party at the time of the interview.

He said that seeing her on stage at Sunday’s grand coronation was the highlight of his evening.

“Everytime we saw her was a highlight. Just to know that all the hard work and procurement of sponsors and so on paid off. I would also say Miss Bahamas was a highlight for us — another young lady from the Caribbean,” Williams added.