The grand coronation of the 2025 Hyundai Miss Universe Jamaica beauty, fashion and wellness pageant is scheduled for this Saturday at AC Hotel Kingston.

A total of 27 finalists (three competitors are no longer a part of the pageant) will compete for the title and to represent Jamaica at the 2025 Miss Universe pageant in Thailand on November 21.

Several key events, including the swimsuit and evening wear challenge and the GOGETTER (Giving Our Girls Educational Tools To Enrich & Reward) initiative, have been already held leading up to the grand coronation.

The GOGETTER initiative was first introduced to the pageant in 2015. A GOGETTER Tea Party was held last week, which saw the finalists interacting and bonding with girls from Annie Dawson Home for Children.

“The purpose and objective of the GOGETTER Tea Party was to provide a fun and elegant setting for the contestants to make their presentations regarding the programmes that they had designed for their mentees — 10 girls from the Annie Dawson Home for Children — whom the contestants had adopted,” Mark McDermoth, national director of the Miss Universe Jamaica Organisation, told the Jamaica Observer on Thursday.

Prior to the tea party they met and bonded with the girls at Hope Gardens in a special fun day event and later went to the home to gather information as to the girls’ full needs, after which they created a plan of action, submitted that plan to the Miss Universe Jamaica Organisation, then executed the plan over the course of a few weeks and presented the outcome to a selection panel at the tea party, which included a volunteer from the home, Nattasha Nickie; the pageant’s official mentor, Dr Sandra Swaby; and Nardia McLaren, director at the Bureau of Gender Affairs and the individual who brought the Annie Dawson Home to the Miss Universe Jamaica Organisation’s attention.

Said McDermoth: “The GOGETTER was reintroduced this year because the idea was for a recipient to be awarded every five years. Due to the COVID pandemic and other factors, we were unable to renew the programme after the first recipient’s timeline had expired, so we felt that it was ample time to bring it back, so that it could continue enhancing the lives of our young girls,” shared McDermoth.

Speaking about the readiness of the girls for this Saturday’s coronation, he said that plans are at an advanced stage.

“The contestants have been in rehearsals [for] the longest training period in the history of our management of the Miss Universe brand in Jamaica to ensure that they will be displaying extra poise, extra control, better speech, and overall more confidence and expertise in their on-stage executions. We are very excited that the partners have been working with us to take the VIP Experience and the overall show programme on an elevated level; that’s a big feature patrons can expect at this year’s show,” McDermoth said.

The 27 contestants will be slashed to a top 15, then a top six, and then the top three.

Last Sunday, the Hyundai Miss Universe Jamaica MoneyMusk Rums Partner Cocktail Experience was hosted at the AC Hotel, where sponsors of the pageant and the finalists were able to interact. The ladies were also given an opportunity to speak about the impact that the pageant has had on their lives.

The grand finals show gets underway at 8:30 pm and will be hosted by media personality Debbie Bissoon. There will be a special musical performance by Rory Frankson.

From left: Contestants Crystal Sibbley, Barbie Mudahy, Matea Smith, Troy Ann Anderson, and Akedia Morgan .

From left: Zoan Edwards, Marian Millaneise, Simone Gardner, Brianna Hanson, Shanelle Kellyman, Tasharrie McLean, and Barbie Mudahy make a perfect picture at the Hyundai Miss Universe Jamaica MonyMusk Rums Partner Cocktail Experience at AC Hotel on Sunday..