At the end of a keenly contested Miss Jamaica Festival Queen Competition finals last Saturday night, it was a beaming, body-positive Miss St Elizabeth Omolora Wilson, dressed in a sparkling red gown, who elegantly walked away with the title. “To be honest ..
. it’s fireworks, it’s happiness, it’s being elated. It’s genuinely just a great feeling to be out here representing Jamaica and to be selected by Jamaicans to be the new Miss Jamaica Festival Queen 2024,” was Wilson’s response to The Gleaner, when asked how she was feeling in the moment.
Family, friends and patriotic Jamaicans filled inside the National Indoor Sports Centre to cheer on the 13 parish queens at the well-executed event presented by the Jamaica Cultural Development Corporation (JCDC). The queens brought their A-game to the competition and impressed with their talent, poise and intelligence. They took inspiration from the passage of Hurricane Beryl, and her name popped up in a few of the talent pieces.
Miss St Thomas, who was the first queen to present, set the tone by proclaiming that we Haffi Build it Back . Miss St James’ Education A Sweet Mi was quite delightful, and so, too, was Jamaica A Di Best Ting Bout Ya from Ms Kingston and St Andrew. Humour came in the form of Ah Don’t Like People Business, courtesy of Miss St Mary, and Woman Can Cry Cree from Miss Hanover, who had the audience repeating her chorus, to which she urged them, “Louder!” Wilson, whose Cash Pot Reasoning earned her.