 
Miss Christina Astheimer was crowned the first ever Miss Teen Belize last weekend in front of a packed Civic Center in Belize City. Twelve contestants from throughout the country vied for the title in this newly formed pageant. Both San Pedro contestants shined at the pageant, and the name of San Pedro will definitely be remembered by the thousands of spectators. The pageant came to life with a spectacular introduction featuring the contestants in the most elaborate carnival costumes of the year from GEM Carnival Group. The judging was based on a number of categories that included; talent competition, swimsuit, evening wear and three rounds of interviews. After the first round of elimination, the two contestants from San Pedro advanced to the semi-finals. After another series of interviews, with questions coming directly from the judges, it was brought down to three contestants. From San Pedro, Christina Astheimer, from Belize City, Tanya Lizama and from Orange Walk, Priscilla Mejia. The same question was asked to the three ladies and it was Christina's response that won her the title. Her answer to the question of "what would she emphasize, if she was to be the Prime Minister of Belize, was she would focus more on educating people of the importance of education since it is very vital to the every day life of each and everyone. During the talent competition she recited a poem regarding the protection of our Barrier Reef authored by Belizean Bradley Haylock. Christina's beauty, charm, intelligence and elegance stole the hearts of the judges. Bouquets were awarded to Miss Congeniality Eleanor Kelly, Miss Photogenic Candice Cadle and best talent Kelly Escobar. A $500 cash prize was awarded to Miss Priscilla Mejia from Orange Walk for the best diction; Miss Mejia was also the first runner up. Newly crowned Miss Teen Belize, Christina Astheimer told the San Pedro Sun, "I am really proud to be the first person to win the title. I would like to thank Miss Ava Lovell and the organizers for all their help. Special thanks to my parents, Ana and all the people of San Pedro that came over to give us their support." The contestants were judged by a panel of twelve persons from throughout the country representing media, businesses, the tourism industry along with others from the private sector. The judges had to adhere to certain criteria while scoring the contestants during the pageant. These included: stage presence, confidence, personality, beauty, intelligence, etiquette, grace, diction and poise. All categories of the pageant were judged on a ten point system with the highest and lowest scores for each contestant eliminated. The San Pedro Sun was honored to be asked by the Miss Teen Committee to represent the print media for Belize. The panel of judges consisted of Mr. Malcolm Vasquez (lead judge) - Businessman of Belize City; Leo Batty - Transportation Industry from Belize City; Johnny Greif III - Airline/Tourism Industry from San Pedro; Wilbur Canto - Electronic Media (Radio) from Belize City; Felix Ayuso Jr. - Print Media (San Pedro Sun) from San Pedro; Indira Craig - Electronic Media (TV) and Airline Industry from Belize City; Ysela Zabaneh - Miss Belize 1991 from Belize City; Eufemia Castillo - Educator from Belize City; Leila Peyrefitte - Businesswoman of Belize City; Josephine Gault - Miss Belize 1993 from Belize City; Elda Cervantes - Educator from Belmopan and Miroslava Loskot - Businesswoman of Orange Walk. Miss Stephanie Buckley was the tabulator with automation provided by Fultec Computer Systems. The dynamic group of organizers for the first ever Miss Teen Belize consisted of Chairperson - Ramon Vasquez; Event Organizer - Dominic Cervantes; Assistant Event Organizer - Andre Castillo; Public Relations Coordinator - William H. Longsworth; Sales and Marketing Officer - Elmer Torres and Contestants Supervision - Miss Ava Lovell, Tamara Munnings, Memory Castro, Nicole Nisbet and Stephanie Buckley. Congratulations to all of them for a job well done.
Copyright San Pedro Sun. Design by Casado Internet Group |
