Daena Soares ‘represented very well’, says local pageant organisers despite early exit | Entertainment

Daena Soares was not named among the the best 16 at the 70th Miss out on Universe pageant held at the Universe Dome in Eilat, Israel tonight, but “she represented pretty very well”, reported Mark McDermoth, co-director of the Miss Universe Jamaica Organisation.

“Daena did almost everything right, and we are very happy of her efficiency all through the opposition,” he advised The Gleaner following the announcement of the top 16 semi-finalists.

Among the the international locations which continued to vie for a prospect for the crown was France, Columbia, Singapore, Panama, Puerto Rico, Japan, United states of america, India, Great Britain, Aruba, Paraguay, Philippines, Venezuela, South Africa, Vietnam, whose consultant Nguyen Huynh Kim Duyen received the highest range of public votes and The Bahamas, which for the initial time in the pageant’s background experienced a prospect in the semi-finals. Our Caribbean neighbour was represented by 27-yr-previous peer mentor Chantel O’Brian. Columbia, India, Paraguay, the Philippines and South Africa were named in the best five.

“We had been pretty fired up and hoping that they would have announced Jamaica and Daena’s name,” McDermoth shared of the working experience watching the pageant.

He additional, “She worked pretty hard, but we recognize, and we accept the consequence. There are numerous nations that deliver delegates to Skip Universe every year and have under no circumstances made the reduce, and Jamaica has produced the semi-finals and finals beneath our stewardship 4 instances in underneath 10 several years. This, as well, is not only historic, but it is a ton to be proud of.”

Jamaica has still to bring home the Skip Universe crown, but McDermoth shared that the option even now remains. The Miss out on Universe Jamaica Organisation is constantly seeking younger women ready to just take on a problem, and the co-director explained, “we are ready to get again to do the job in selecting and preparing the future delegate to stand for Jamaica.”

The United states of america has the optimum number of Pass up Universe titleholders Venezuela, 7 Puerto Rico, five and The Philippines, 4. In the meantime, Sweden, South Africa and Mexico are tied with 3 candidates taking the crown.

‘INCREDIBLE’ Experience

Major up to the pageant day, Soares retained her followers engaged on social media and delivered journey updates and highlights of her general working experience. The St Elizabeth born-and-elevated beauty shared that it was an “unbelievable” feeling being equipped to represent not only Jamaica, but her parish and the group of Junction. She also paid out tribute to her great-grandfather, who she affectionately referred to as ‘Grandpa Bawsy’.

“He was a father determine to all in our group and was the major figurehead powering our accomplishments and development to this day. I see myself as a end result of his attempts to empower his relatives prolonged expression, and I am very pleased to be a representative of his forward-imagining,” she instructed The Gleaner in an interview just after the Skip Universe preliminary swimsuit and night gown competitors.

Soares mentioned she is going for walks absent from the competitiveness with a great deal far more than was predicted, such as new information about her ancestry. A collaboration with My Heritage, a foremost genealogy analysis business, and the Miss out on Universe Organisation allowed contestants to check out their ancestry.

“The contestants gained a DNA retrieval kit which incorporated cheek swabs for us to deliver in our genetic product. Soon after a handful of months, we gained our results and were being in a position to evaluate them with the workforce. It was quite stunning nonetheless enlightening,” she stated.

“I be expecting to have a prolonged conversation with my relatives when I return property, as there are a good deal of new questions about our ancestors. So significantly new details, these kinds of as ancestry from Sierra Leone and Syria, emerged. Coming from these types of a huge and diverse family, this was significantly appreciated. I am thankful I had this experience that I can share with them as very well,” Soares continued.

The Skip Universe competitors was not without having controversy. The South African federal government, which strongly supports the Palestinian cause, withdrew its help a month ahead of Miss out on Universe South Africa Lalela Mswane was scheduled to journey to Israel to participate in the intercontinental pageant. A grassroots Palestinian-led boycott had also urged contestants to skip the event to protest Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.

At the close of the night, the 2021 Miss Universe winner was Miss out on Universe India Harnaaz Sandhu with Miss out on Universe Paraguay Nadia Ferreira as 1st runner-up and Mswane, second-runner up.

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