La Toya Woods, 24, is the new Miss T&T Universe. She earned the right to represent this country at the Miss Universe Pageant in 2010 at Sunday's local staging of the contest held in the ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Hotel, on Dock Road, Port-of-Spain. A date and venue for the show has not yet been selected by Miss Universe Inc. Woods' victory settles the issue as to who will represent T&T and allows her almost seven months to prepare, while the Miss T&T Universe Group tackles challenges related to sponsorship in relation to her preparation for the contest. In her bid to become the new Miss T&T Universe, Woods, Miss Point Lisas and a resident of Couva, beat out a field of seven delegates for the top spot.
She won favour with the adjudication panel which comprised: Dominic Kalipersad, Claudia Pegus, June Alexis Matthews, Dean Ackin, Shida Bholai, Dr Amery Browne, Danielle Dieffenthaller and Neil Bernard. Miss Santa Cruz, Danielle Prime, was the first runner-up, while Miss California, Sarah Radday, was second runner-up. June Lightbourne, Lisa See Tai, Shari Dumas Shirlanne Singh and Nisa Benjamin were the other contestants. "I did it! Mommy, I did it. Thank you God," was the first thing Woods said when she was declared winner. Even though Woods and her mother Gloria Woods did not get a chance to speak on pageant day, they were sending messages to each other.
Meeting after the results were announced, Wood recalled her mother said: "Thank you baby. You made me so proud. You were the best delegate." Admitting she's still overwhelmed by the victory, Woods said, the first thing the local team told delegates at the start of the process was to think like winners. Woods expressed hope she would be completely prepared and be the best on competition day. She described her victory as bitter-sweet, citing that her stepfather Lloyd Joseph, who had urged her to take that step into the pageant world was not at the Hyatt for her victory: he's recovering from a massive stroke.
"My stepfather is a motivational factor in my life. Ian Lee, the new national director, and franchise holder for the Miss T&T Universe Group said the weekend production went exactly as planned. "I got the franchise during the first week in October. I was on vacation. "I called the team and told them if we had the local leg this year it would be perfect. We agreed that we had to hit the ground running," he said. Adrian Raymond of the Miss T&T Universe Group hosted the event. Lee was optimistic about the State's involvement in the Woods' funding for Miss Universe 2010. He said a proposal sent to Marlene Mc Donald, Minister of Community Development, Culture and Gender Affairs, showing the Miss T&T Universe Group's accountability systems met with favourable response from ministry officials.
?Results:
La Toya Woods, winner
Danielle Prime, first runner-up
Sarah Radday, second runner-up
