Six young St. Thomas women staged a lively competition for the V.I. Carnival Queen 2000 crown Saturday night at the Lionel Roberts Stadium. At the end, six came out the winner — Contestant No. 6, that is, Canika-Chisa George.
The 17-year-old Charlotte Amalie High School senior brushed away a tear or two as she was escorted to the edge of the stage by master of ceremonies Irvin "Brownie" Brown around 1 a.m. Sunday. After that, she was all smiles, accepting hugs and congratulations from first runner- up Sencelia Gumbs and 1999 Carnival Queen Shani Smith.
Sencelia, Contestant No. 3, was a crowd favorite from the time she made her first Carnival 2000 stage appearance the previous Sunday at the prince and princess competition. Right up to the big announcement at the end of the five-hour pageant, supporters still held hopes for the 16- year-old Eudora Kean High School junior to triumph.
From the start of the stage show, the contestants bounced through their dance steps and various segments with spunk, flash, sweeping skirts and lots of Caribbean charm. Almost every contestant took a home a trophy for talent, intellect, cultural presentation, photogenicity or fashion sense.
Canika won the photogenic category, and Claudette Duggins, Contestant No. 2, won the intellect award.
In the introductory number, "Beauties of the New Millennium," the six appeared onstage in silver lamé babydoll dresses and crayon-colored wigs. After a quick change, they reappeared to start the swimwear competition. For the career-wear segement, they modeled clothes they might wear as the professionals they say they would like someday to be.
Gumbs as a TV weathercaster walked onstage and doffed a yellow raincoat to reveal a slim green two-piece suit with navy trim and buttons up the slit skirt. Also in yellow was aspiring teacher Vickki-Ann Samuel, Contestant No. 1, a 17-year-old CAHS senior who wore a sunny silk jacket with a short Tartan plaid skirt and demonstrated a pocketbook computer accessory. Contestant No. 4, Kanique Thomas, a CAHS senior who hopes to study at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, wore a black suit with white polka-dot blouse and lapels.
Kanique captured the cultural award honoring that centuries-old staple of Virgin Islands cuisine, red pea soup. She wore a pink-and-red gown with a skirt featuring hundreds of appliques representing the ingredients. Her pink bodice unbuttoned to reveal the soup recipe. On her head was a coal stove hat nestling a soup pot. Claudette, a 17-year-old CAHS senior, took the coal pot theme a little further, appearing inside a large model of the old-fashioned stove in a red lamé top which gave the impression of a fire glowing inside.
Judges scored the contestants according to a point system that heavily favors talent, cultural intrepretation and evening wear. Canika won the talent award with a mini-tale of a star-struck dancer who packs her bags to the tune of "New York, New York" and wings her way to the big city. Her stage setting swiveled from a bedroom to a skyscraper skyline, where she emerged in a red jumper to swing, split, tap and lindy hop to a medley of tunes.
For this pageant, which fell on the eve of Easter Sunday, three of the candidates employed church settings for their talent presentations. Two played bothered brides. Claudette played one who decided she loved her steelpan more than her man. Kanique kept the audience spellbound with "Obeah Wedding," the tale of a vengeful bride who turns to black magic when her would-be groom jilts her. Sencelia appeared at the door of her church front in an emerald green choir robe and roused the crowd with gospel renditions.
The band P'your Passion entertained the crowd between competition segements and at one point launched into the calypso version of "Obeah Wedding" made popular by the Mighty Sparrow.
Khalilaj Espada, Contestant No. 5, a CAHS 17-year-old, combined a ballet-inspired modern dance to introduce the harp, then sat to play and danced away with full skirt circling wide.
In the evening wear segment, Claudette wore a straight-cut white gown with a single-shoulder drape and bodice with a slightly gathered waist that won her the award in that category. Each contestant was escorted onstage for this segment by a member of the CAHS Junior ROTC in formal dress uniform.
The judges didn't make awards in the swimwear and career wear categories this year.
A crowd estimated at more than 4,000 filled the stadium field and bleachers for the Carnival 2000 Queen Talent and Selection Show, traditionally one of the most popular Carnival events. Many stood or sat in one place from the start of the show a little after 8 p.m. and watched segment after segment leading up to the big announcement five hours later. The queen, prince and princess will be crowned in a ceremony Sunday, April 30, at 4 p.m. in Emancipation Garden.
