Contestants unveiled: Beauty and brainpower on stage for upcoming Miss Seychelles pageant

Twelve contestants aged between 18 and 25 chosen from a pool of 30 applicants will be vying for the crown on June 13. (Joe Laurence, Seychelles News Agency)

(Seychelles News Agency) - Contestants for June's Miss Seychelles Beauty Pageant were officially presented during a ceremony at the Berjaya Beau Vallon Hotel.

Organisers of the pageant, Beauty Empowerment Seychelles, which has taken over for the first time, officially launched the event titled 'Miss Seychelles-The National Pageant' on Friday.

Twelve contestants aged between 18 and 25 chosen from a pool of 30 applicants will be vying for the crown on June 13.

The Beauty Empowerment Team is made up of Kevin Perine, Stephanie Duval, a former contestant of Miss Seychelles, Miss Regatta and Miss Universal Petite, and Margaret Raguin, a former contestant of the 'Miss Seychelles Beauty Pageant.

Raguain, who is the vice-chair of the Beauty Empowerment Seychelles and the director of the Miss Seychelles pageant, said all three members were passionate about pageants.

"We thought that with our vast experience with beauty pageants, it would be a great idea to take over the national pageant and use this platform to empower young women and girls, which is in line with our association's objectives," said Raguin.

A noticeable difference this year is that all the contestants have a strong academic background with most of them having a university degree, diploma or having just completed their Advanced Level studies.

"One of the requirements when you enter such a competition is for the person to have a strong academic level, although it does not define which level. This time around we have a group of beautiful and intelligent young girls. It could be because we hadn't had the pageant for two years, maybe this has contributed towards attracting these very good candidates," she said.

For her part, the chief executive of the Seychelles Tourism Board, Sherin Francis, said it was a pleasure to see the pageant back on the calendar and she "hopes it gathers momentum to be one of the much anticipated of the Seychelles calendar."

Francis also commended the organisers for taking the initiative and called on them to ensure the event remains at par with public expectations.

"That is the only way you will be able to gather support", she added.

For the contestants, Francis said whoever gets to wear the crown "will face be the face and ambassador for Seychelles and it's important that you uphold the title."

Between now and crowning night, the organisers say it has a compact programme for the contestants as part of their grooming which includes talks, training in catwalks, etiquette and public speaking.

"Our biggest dream at Beauty Empowerment Seychelles is to see our flag raised at one of the big international beauty pageants, where one of our girls will clinch either a Miss Talent, Miss Sport or even Miss World title," said Raguin.

In the meantime, Beauty Empowerment Seychelles is trying to get the Miss Seychelles National Pageant to be recognised as the main pageant of Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean.

SNA presents the 12 contestants for the Miss Seychelles National Pageant. (Joe Laurence, Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY