A new Miss Belize was chosen on Saturday night but if you didn’t
know, you’re not alone. That is only a handful knew there was going to
be a pageant because it wasn’t held at the City Center, the Bliss Center
– or any public venue for that matter. This year the new Miss Belize was
chosen in a living room on Raccoon Street Extension, the office of Pageants
Belize which is reportedly also the home of it’s director Margaret Johnson.
No audience was there but Johnson says 5 contestants were along with 5 judges
and auditors. The media wasn’t invited, we were told in a press release
that the new queen would be announced on Monday, which is today. But 7NEWS showed
up uninvited on Saturday night anyway. Keith Swift has the story.
Keith Swift Reporting,
This is amateur video provided to 7NEWS by Pageants Belize of Saturday’s
night crowning of 21 year old Charmaine Chinapen as the new Miss Belize.
Charmaine Chinapen, Miss Belize 2008-2009
“I am in shock but I am just so grateful. I had a wonderful team around
me and they were there for me 24-7 and it is just a wonderful feeling. I can’t
explain it to you, until maybe like three days from now but it is just an in
the moment feeling and I feel patriotic right now to be Miss Belize. I feel
so proud to be here and to be part of my country. It is a great feeling.”
A great feeling but what’s wrong with the picture, is that she was chosen 
and then crowned inside this house. When we got inside the house Raccoon Street
Extension on Saturday night, the new Miss Belize, 21 year old Charmaine Chinapen,
as in the living room posing for pictures. There was less than enough space
for family – much less friends or an audience. It was held in here because
Margaret Johnson says it has been a rough year for Pageants Belize.
Margaret Johnson, Executive Director – Pageants Belize
“This is the Miss Belize office. We selected a new Miss Belize and
everybody was a winner tonight because everyone of them gets to go to an international
pageant. That is a first time for Belize.
I think from the past few months you guys know we’ve had some setbacks
with our past queens. I think the media has been a little bit unfair with Pageants
Belize to be honest with you, I’m not saying you guys, but what I’ve
noticed is that because the girls have sashes everybody tends to believe what
they say.
What they don’t know is that there are other stories behind it that
we haven’t divulged but it is mainly because we’re trying to keep
the integrity of Pageants Belize in such a way that we build the esteem of these
young ladies and I think it is time to move on and for me I haven’t gone
out there and defended a whole lot but I know that if anybody was supposed to
ever going into my files or my emails or anything and see the real stories behind
the situations that have happened, they would find there is more to story than
that. To me I am looking forward with the new Miss Belize.”
Keith Swift,
Does it take away from the moment that you were chosen in an office, in a house,
instead of on a stage in front of a crowd?
Charmaine Chinapen,
“Not at all. It is a fair competition. We have the delegates and you
choose the best out of the delegates. I think that is a completely fair competition,
that is how it is done in other countries as I understand and so Belize can
do it also.”
Charmaine Chinapen was crowned by Iris Jessie Medina who was became
Miss Belize after Tanisha Vernon was stripped of the title earlier this year.
And while she might be a new face, Chinapen has modelled in print ads for Pantene-Pro
V Shampoo, she plays the piano, and – she is currently a chemistry major
at St. John’s University in New York – and on her way to becoming
Belize’s first female neurosurgeon. She will represent Belize in the Miss
World Pageant in Ukraine in October.
Johnson assures us that Saturday night’s event was in compliance
with rules of the Miss World Pageant. And as she explained it to us, the 6 contestants
on Saturday were delegates who were chosen from a pool of 11 contestants who
applied. All delegates will get to represent Belize at different international
pageants over the next year.
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