Aspiring beauty queens prepare to face crowds

Miss Seychelles contestants for the 2014 pageant (Joena Bonnelame, Seychelles Nation)

(Seychelles News Agency) - Finalists in the Seychelles' national beauty contest on Sunday are preparing to face crowds and the media, the Indian Ocean island nation’s tourism ministry has said.

The pageant organisers narrowed down the Miss Seychelles ... Another World 2014 title contenders to just 12 finalists, who will vie for the crown in May this year, with the ultimate winner representing the country in the Miss World beauty pageant.

The island beauties met the pageants’ organisers and sponsors on Sunday and were interviewed by the local media, in an exercise to build their self-confidence under intense scrutiny and media glare.

The reigning Miss Seychelles Agnes Gerry shared her experiences with the contestants urging them to support each other 'on this journey which you will surely enjoy.'

Miss Seychelles...Another World 2013, Agnes Gerry (Riccardo Roccardi, Jollypress International) Photo license: Attribution-NonCommercial

Among them was also the islands' tourism and culture minister Alain St Ange, who said: “there is a need to put the beauty pageant contestants in the forefront, make them our country’s ‘ambassadors’ and showcase our people to the world, and in so doing promote our country."

He added that during this year’s Carnaval International of Victoria, a lively carnival which is due to be staged in April in the Seychelles capital Victoria, the beauty contestants will be put at the forefront of the event and “will be seen by the largest panel of journalists that has ever landed in our country,” prior to the May beauty contest.

“You will be seen and this will be a chance for you all to create your own image and showcase your own personality,” he added, agreeing with other speakers that taking part in the events leading up to the pageants will help them grow personally and professionally.

Miss Seychelles ... Another World 2014 takes place on May 31, 2014.