The 13 parish queens as well as fast track finalists in the Miss Universe Jamaica 2026 pageant, benefitted from a workshop hosted by the Miss Universe Jamaica Organisation on Sunday at the AC Hotel in Kingston.

The overall objective of the workshop was to sensitise the ladies how serious their duties and obligations are.

“The workshop was entitled ‘Earning the Crown’ and while there were multiple objectives for the session, the overall aim was to remind our title winners that their crowns were not just symbolic representations of the Miss Universe brand, that there are serious duties and obligations tied to the crowns and title,” Mark McDermoth, president of the Miss Universe Jamaica Organisation told Observer Online on Sunday.

“We also underscored the importance of earning their crowns and the privilege to be referred to as queens, that for us at Miss Universe Jamaica, being a queen is not simply just being crowned one, the title is earned. We reminded the parish title winners and runners-up about the Miss Universe Pageant System, we reviewed the selection process and criteria and gave them a very detailed overview of what is required/expected, and we also outlined the programmes and activities that form part of the years’ itinerary,” McDermoth added.

This year, the organisers opted for parish pageants, where a queen was crowned from each parish, thus extending the reach of the pageant.

“Introducing the parish pageants is a major investment in the Miss Universe Jamaica recruitment process and we want to ensure that we strengthened the integrity of the programme and add greater value to the title winners, who are the direct products of the programme, and as such, we want to give them as many tools and opportunities we can to assist their personal growth, development and their performance at the national level and beyond,” said McDermoth.

The workshop, which was hosted by McDermoth, featured an extensive discussion about a wide range of topics and the ladies also had the opportunity to give their perspectives.

Some of the topics covered include: representing Jamaica, gratitude and appreciation for individuals who support their journey, taking care of items loaned to them, conducting successful interviews, the importance of reading and staying informed, cleaning up of social media accounts, health and fitness, the Miss Universe selection process and selection criteria, personal styling and brand representation, proper hygiene, and dining etiquette among other topics.

Deborah Gordon, a former Miss Universe Jamaica East titleholder and second runner-up in the national Miss Universe Jamaica pageant, did a presentation on walking and stage presentation.

Gordon was recently appointed as the Miss Universe Jamaica official stage presentation coach.

“Deborah is responsible for training the ladies to improve the way they walk generally, and also how they present themselves in the personality interview, the swimwear and evening gown presentations as required by the Miss Universe Pageant System, with which she is very familiar. Her presentation to the ladies about the correlation between fitness, the way they walk and their onstage presentations and she then instructed the ladies to demonstrate their swimwear and evening gown presentations and made notes for future sessions with them,” McDermoth shared.

The national eliminations for the 2026 Miss Universe Jamaica beauty pageant is scheduled to take place this Sunday July 12 at the AC Hotel, beginning at 11:00am.

Interested participants are encouraged to sign up on Instagram @officialmissuniversejamaica.

Deadline for registration is Wednesday, June 8.