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Thank you to Peter Ray Blood for the Blood Notes on Anya's win as seen here in the Guardian Online.
News related to Miss Trinidad & Tobago Universe 2008 Anya Ayoung-Chee
ON SUNDAY evening two women embarked on a journey to represent this country at the world’s most prestigious beauty pageants. Gabrielle Walcott, Miss TT/World, and Anya Ayoung- Chee, Miss TT/Universe were crowned at the end of an intense competition at Club Zen in Port-of-Spain.
From now on, there will be hardly a dull moment for the two local beauties who have already started preparations for the pageants later this year.
Gabrielle, who is from Petit Valley, will represent this country at the 2008 Miss World Pageant in Vietnam on October 4. Anya, of Maraval, is gearing up for the Miss Universe Pageant in the Ukraine in June.
Gabrielle said she was always confident of her chances in the local pageant and plans to bring the international title home later this year.
“Ever since I met former Miss Universe Wendy Fitzwilliam, I wanted to be like her. Since then I have been preparing myself to one day walk in her footsteps.”
She said she is throwing herself into preparations for Miss World 2008 with a passion. Bubbling over with enthusiasm she said: “I believe that the human can achieve any goal if they really want it,” she declared.
No stranger to the bright lights, Gabrielle made her debut before the cameras in a Klim commercial when she was just six years old. Since then she has been involved in modelling, and acting, including a supporting role in the movie Backlash which was filmed in TT in 2006. Gabrielle, who has a Degree in Visual Arts and Theatre Arts, recently returned to TT from Manhattan, where she did a one year diploma in voicing, monologues, public speaking, speech writing and acting for the camera and for live audience. She is now confident that these recently acquired skills will help her win the international title.
“I lived in Manhattan for one year . . . after working in visual and theatre arts I now have the experience necessary for this type of competition,” she said.
Over the next six months Gabrielle will undergo rigorous training under the supervision of the pageant committee headed by Peter Elias.
She credited her parents, Camille and Dereck Walcott, for encouraging her to pursue her dreams.
Anya says she has been in a state of shock since being crowned Miss TT/Universe. She said her mind went blank as she received her crown and sash and she was so overwhelmed that she struggled to make the final walk with her bouquet of flowers.
“I was over the moon with excitement,” she said.
Anya said her decision to enter the competition wasn’t spur of the moment. It is just the latest step in a process of rebuilding her life following the tragic death of her brother, Pilar Ayoung- Chee, in a car accident nine month ago. She said after losing her brother, she took another look at life and started to explore other avenues in a quest for fulfillment.
“Although I was very vibrant, I realised that I could do a lot more in life,” she said. Anya who is of mixed descent — her father Wilson is of Chinese origin and her mother, Michelle of East Indian and African ancestry — has dabbled in all cultures in TT.
“We have such a unique mix of people here that there is never a boring moment. There is always something happening within the various denominations,” she said. The 26-year-old recently started a job as a graphic designer at Above Studios.
“I studied graphic design at Parsons School of Design in Manhattan. It is something I really love to do,” said Anya, who is the first of six children and the only girl. She said she considers it a blessing to be part of her family. No stranger to the world of fashion, Anya recently assisted Meiling in designing clothes for popular rapso group 3Canal for their Carnival performances.
For now, however, all other pursuits have been temporarily set aside as she concentrates on preparations for the international pageant in a few months time.
Newly crowned Miss Trinidad and Tobago, Universe, Anya Ayoung-Chee, says she is ready for the challenge of getting prepared for the Miss Universe competition, which is just a mere four months away.
The 26-year-old, who recently started as a graphic designer with Above Studios, said "young women all have the challenge to multitask and take on many responsibilities. In being a Miss Trinidad and Tobago it is a challenge to do both, but I am ready".
A confident Ayoung-Chee was speaking after winning the crown on Sunday at the Zen nightclub in Port of Spain.
The Maraval beauty along with Gabrielle Walcott of Petit Valley was chosen to represent Trinidad and Tobago at the Miss World from a field of five other contestants at the Miss T&T finals.
Newly-crowned Miss T&T Universe ANYA
AYOUNG-CHEE takes her victory walk to the adulation of patrons at the Zen Night Club in Port-of-Spain, Sunday.
By SEAN NERO and Carol Matroo
Anya Ayoung-Chee is T&T’s representative for the Miss Universe Pageant while Gabrielle Walcott will be the country’s beauty ambassador at the Miss World contest.
At Sunday night’s Tourism Development Company (TDC)-sponsored Miss T&T Pageant, both young women won favour with a panel of adjudicators to vie for these major international titles. The event was produced and presented by the Pageant Company of T&T.
Ayoung-Chee, 26, travels to Vietnam on July 15, for the Miss Universe Pageant.
Three months later—in October—Walcott, 23, takes the spotlight in the Ukraine for the Miss World contest.
Ayoung-Chee and Walcott formed a cast of seven sexy, elegant, gorgeous and witty young women who vied for the opportunity to represent T&T overseas.
Makeda O’Neal, 23; Sasiya Roxanne Albert, 22; Kerry-Ann Murphy, 19; Priya Chanderbally, 24; and June Lighbourne, 23, were the other five delegates who took the spotlight for the coveted titles.
O’Neal was voted first runner-up for Miss World while Lightbourne holds a similar honour for the Miss Universe Pageant, according to the adjudication panel.
The judges were: former Guardian editor-in-chief Dominic Kalipersad; Dale Enoch, heads of news at i95.5FM; former Miss World Giselle La Ronde-West; Yvonne Popplewell; Jeneile Mc Carthy-Sinanan and Bobby Ackbarali.
Their decisions were announced at the end of a glitzy one hour and 45-minute production at Zen, located on Keate Street in Port-of-Spain.
Hosted by former Miss World finalist Valene Maharaj and Adrian Raymond—an associate with the Pageant Company—Sunday’s event was staged before a capacity audience.
They saw the bevy of beauties being judged in three categories: swimwear, evening gown and current affairs.
Taking the spotlight with shoes courtesy Payless, hair styled by Bally, make-up by Sandra Hordat, swimwear by Carolina Swimwear and formal wear by Peter Elias Designs, delegates on the evening’s showcase seemed evenly matched.
It was the current affairs segment, however, titled “Ripped from the headlines” that separated them, and the evening’s entertainment came alive.
The ultimate honour
Honoured, proud and extremely excited was how Anya Ayoung-Chee described the decision by the panel of judges to award her the title of Miss T&T Universe.
“I went blank...I was speechless when they called my name. When I realised it was real, I didn’t know what to think. It was a complete shock. It’s an unparalled experience for any young woman in T&T to represent her country.”
Miss T&T Universe Anya Ayoung-Chee went through a heart-wrenching loss nine months ago.
She lost her 18-year-old brother Pilar in a four-car smash-up in May last year. The accident also took the lives of his three friends.
This, she said, was one of the reasons she entered the Miss T&T competition.
“(His death) was a life-changing experience and I felt that if I entered, I would be living his life through this.
“He had an incredible spirit…he would know that I did it for the right reasons,” Ayoung-Chee said.
She said she was immensely proud and privileged to have won the competition.
“It is the ultimate honour,” she said.
Ayoung-Chee said she expected the next five months to be very productive.
In July, Ayoung-Chee would travel to Vietnam where she would vie for the Miss Universe title.
She said her victory had come at an important time in her family’s lives as it was nine months to the day since her brother died.
“If I can live by the ethics that I believe in, I would live out the motto of my life,” she said.
Ayoung-Chee said her boyfriend, photographer Wyatt Gallery, played an integral part in her “getting to this point.”