Miss Jamaica World is a national beauty pageant in Jamaica that selects a contestant to represent the country in the Miss World beauty pageant.

Miss Jamaica World
Formation1959
TypeBeauty pageant
HeadquartersKingston
Location
Membership
Miss World
Official language
English
Franchise Holder
Crown of Beauty Jamaica
Key people
Weston Haughton, Dahlia Harris
WebsiteOfficial website

History

The Miss Jamaica pageant's predecessor, the "Miss Jamaica Contest", dates back to 1959. The winner of Miss Jamaica represents Jamaica at the Miss World pageant from 1959 to present. The title of Miss Jamaica World was officially coined in 1978. The 1976 and 1977 representatives were appointed by then licence holder Mickey Haughton-James of the Spartan Health Club. Spartan held the franchise from 1976 to 2012 and resumed its leadership in 2017.

In 2018, Miss World Organization announced that the franchise to stage the Miss Jamaica World pageant as a precursor to Miss World has been granted to Crown of Beauty Jamaica Limited, whose principals are local playwright and impresario Aston Cooke and veteran entertainment specialist Weston Haughton.

Jamaica sent its first representative to Miss World in 1959. To date Jamaica has now garnered four Miss World titles (1963, 1976, 1993, and 2019).

Titleholders

Color key
  •   Declared as Winner
  •   Ended as runner-up
  •   Ended as one of the finalists or semifinalists

The winner of Miss Jamaica World represents her country at Miss World. On occasion, when the winner does not qualify (due to age) for either contest, a runner-up is sent.

Year Miss Jamaica Placement Special Awards
1959 Sheila Mechtilde Chong Top 15
1962 Chriss Leon Top 15
1963 Carole Crawford Miss World 1963
1964 Erica Jeanne Cooke 5th Runner-up
1965 Carol Joan McFarlane
1966 Yvonne Walter
1967 Laurel Williams
1968 Karlene Waddel
1969 Marlyn E. Taylor[1] Top 15
1970 Elizabeth Ann Lindo
1971 Ava Joy Gill 4th Runner-up
1972 Gail Geraldeen Phillips
1973 Patsy Yuen 2nd Runner-up
1974 Andrea Lyon Top 15
1976 Cindy Breakspeare Miss World 1976
1977 Sandra Kong Withdrew
1978 Joan McDonald
1979 Debbie Campbell 2nd Runner-up
1980 Michelle Harris Top 15
1981 Sandra Cunningham 2nd Runner-up
1982 Cornelia Parchment Unplaced
1983 Cathi Levy 3rd Runner-up
1984 Jacqueline Crichton Unplaced
1985 Alison Barnett 4th Runner-up
1986 Lisa Mahfood Unplaced
1987 Janice Whittingham Unplaced
1988 Andrea Haynes Unplaced
1989 Natasha Marcanik Unplaced
1990 Erica Aquart Top 10 Caribbean Queen of Beauty
1991 Sandra Foster 3rd Runner-up Caribbean Queen of Beauty
1992 Julie Ann Bradford Unplaced
1993 Lisa Hanna Miss World 1993 Caribbean Queen of Beauty
1994 Johanna Ulett
1995 Imani Duncan
1996 Selena Delgado
1997 Michell Moodie Caribbean Queen of Beauty
1998 Christine Straw Top 10 Caribbean Queen of Beauty
1999 Desiree DePass Caribbean Queen of Beauty
2000 Ayisha Richards
2001 Regina Beavers
2002 Danielle O'Hayon
2003 Jade Fulford Top 17 Caribbean Queen of Beauty
Beach Beauty (Top 10)
2004 Tonoya Toyloy Miss Scholarship
2005 Terri-Karelle Griffith Top 16 Beach Beauty (Top 19)
2006 Sara Lawrence 3rd Runner-up Caribbean Queen of Beauty
Beach Beauty (Top 25)
2007 Yendi Phillipps Top 16 Beach Beauty (1st Runner-up)
Beauty with a Purpose (Top 5)
Top Model (Top 7)
Sports and Fitness (Top 16)
Performing Talent (Top 18)
2008 Brittany Lyons Performing Talent (Top 19)
2009 Kerrie Baylis Sports and Fitness (1st Runner-up)
Best World Designer Dress Award (2nd Runner-up)
Top Model (Top 12)
Beach Beauty (Top 20)
2010 Chantal Raymond
2011 Danielle Crosskill Sports and Fitness (Top 24)
2012 Deanna Robins 5th Runner-up Caribbean Queen of Beauty
Performing Talent (Top 5)
Beauty with a Purpose (Top 10)
Top Model (Top 10)
Sports and Fitness (Top 24)
Beach Beauty (Top 40)
2013 Gina Hargitay Top 10 Caribbean Queen of Beauty
Beach Beauty (3rd Runner-up)
Best in Interview (1st Place)
2014 Laurie-Ann Chin Sports and Fitness (Top 29)
2015 Sanneta Myrie 3rd Runner-up Caribbean Queen of Beauty
Performing Talent (2nd Runner-up)
Best in Interview (4th Runner-up)
Multimedia Award (Top 5)
2016 Ashlie Barrett
2017 Solange Sinclair Top 10 Caribbean Queen of Beauty
Sports and Fitness (Top 23)
2018 Kadijah Robinson[2] Top 5 Caribbean Queen of Beauty

Beauty with a Purpose (Top 12)

2019 Toni-Ann Singh Miss World 2019 Miss World Talent
2020 Due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, no pageant in 2020
2021 Khalia Hall[3] Miss World Talent (Top 27)
Miss World Sport (Top 32)
2022 Due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, no pageant in 2022
2023 Shanique Singh[4]
2024 No competition held
2025 Tahje Bennet[5] TBA

Trivia

Miss Jamaica 1963 is the shortest woman in history to win Miss World. She is 5 feet 3 inches (1.60 m) tall.

Cindy Breakspeare is the mother of Damian Marley, son of reggae icon Bob Marley.

Joan McDonald was the first to hold the official title of Miss Jamaica World. She is also the first winner of full African descent. Her win came at a time when public pressure built up for winners who represented the dominant ethnic group in Jamaica.

Lisa Hanna is currently a Member of Parliament and former Minister of Youth and Culture.

Miss Jamaica World 1991, Sandra Foster, represented Jamaica at Miss Universe 1989 and made Top Ten.

Miss Jamaica World 1989, Janice Sewell, is currently working as Human Resources.

Miss Jamaica World 1995, Imani Duncan, currently serves as a Senator.

Regina Beavers became the youngest title holder, she won at age 17 in 2001.

Miss Jamaica World 1998, Christine Straw, later represented Jamaica in Miss Universe 2004, making the Top Ten.

Miss Jamaica World 2005, Terri-Karelle Griffith-Reid, is a successful keynote speaker, events and TV host. She is the host of the popular talent show Digicel Rising Stars, which was previously hosted by Yendi Phillipps from 2008 to 2009.

Miss Jamaica World 2006 was subject to controversy when she got pregnant during her reign. Miss World CEO Julia Morley allowed her to retain her title as Miss World Caribbean.

Miss Jamaica World 2007, Yendi Phillipps, went on to win Miss Jamaica Universe in 2010 and placed first runner-up at Miss Universe 2010.

Miss Jamaica World 2009, Kerrie Baylis later represented Jamaica at Miss Universe 2013 but was unplaced.

Miss Jamaica World 2017 and Miss World Caribbean 2017 Solange Sinclair is the granddaughter of deceased Hollywood actress Madge Sinclair who had notable roles as Queen Aoleon in Coming to America and the voice of Sarabi in Disney's The Lion King.

References

  1. ^ "Jamaica Gleaner". Retrieved 22 July 2022 – via PressReader.
  2. ^ "Khadijah Robinson Crowned Miss Jamaica World 2018". jamaica-gleaner.com. 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  3. ^ "Khalia Hall wins Miss Jamaica World 2021". The Gleaner. October 9, 2021.
  4. ^ "Medical student Shanique Singh named Miss Jamaica World 2022". The Gleaner. 4 December 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  5. ^ "Tahje Bennett triumphs in second shot at Miss Ja World title". Jamaica Gleaner. 7 September 2024. Archived from the original on 7 September 2024. Retrieved 7 September 2024.