Shanisa Emmanuel Is Miss St. Croix 2017-18

Last updated Dec. 21, 2017

ST. CROIX — At the end of a night filled with great performances and a few stumbles from the three young women vying for the title of Miss St. Croix 2017-18 — a show that traditionally signals the beginning of the festival season here — Shanisa Emmanuel, contestant number 3 during last night’s flawlessly organized queen show, was crowned queen in a down-to-the-wire competition that kept the audience guessing who the winner would be until the end.

Though in the end Ms. Emmanuel wound up nabbing the crown, the outcome of the show was not predictable. Shanice James, contestant number 1 started off strong with a dominant and error-free opening platform remark, but stumbled later during her talent and question and answer segments. And Vynisha Charles, whose performance throughout was mostly solid, erred during her question and answer segment as well, after misunderstanding a question meant to determine if and how leaders had abused their first amendment right of free speech during the hurricane season. Ms. Charles also struggled with her talent segment, with the background music and vocals of a track sometimes overpowering her own words, which were mostly hard to follow.

And Ms. Emmanuel had errors of her own, too, but her strong performance in the talent segment and actually giving a related response in the question and answer segment, helped move her above her competitors.

All the ladies, however, came ready to win and had shining moments of their own. Ms. James’s confident personality and oratory skills saw her dominating all segments related to speech, except her question and answer segment, where her answer did not match the question (she was asked what new industry she would bring to the territory following Hurricanes Irma and Maria, and Ms. James said tourism — currently the territory’s largest industry). Ms. Charles’s “high fashion” attire captivated the audience; she also strutted with confidence during the swimsuit segment. In the question and answer segment, though, her misreading of the question weakened her position. (Ms. Charles praised leaders for getting out into the community especially during the hurricane season and engaging with residents, when she was asked how leaders had abused their first amendment right.)

The following bracketed paragraphs were added today (Dec. 21) following a post on Facebook from Ms. Charles challenging the content of this story, relative to her question and answer performance.

[Here’s the question in full: “Do you think politicians are taking advantage of their first amendments rights that protects freedom of speech. Why, or why not?”) Here’s Ms. Charles’s answer: “I do think that politicians are taking advantage of their right because lately I have noticed, especially during the storms [Hurricanes Irma and Maria] and the aftermath they have become very involved in the community and they are not afraid to voice their opinions and connect with us on a whole and see how we feel, and receive our feedback. I think that the storms have really brought us together as a community, and for that cause, I really do think that they’re taking advantage of their right.”

During and after Hurricanes Irma and Maria, there has been little interaction with the community by most senators; their presence was just not visible. Governor Kenneth Mapp was indeed involved with the community, albeit mostly through his daily hurricane recovery press briefings. Many believed that Mr. Mapp abused his first amendment right following the storms when he told a constituent on Facebook, who had criticized the governor for the brand of water being used at the time at Government House, to “go $&#k yourself.” In another interaction on Facebook, the governor told a resident that he was residing “wit ur mudda,” when the resident asked where the governor was staying when in St. Thomas, since Hurricane Irma damaged the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

Some residents also took issue when the governor said a “fifth pile” of debris should be created for residents who did not want to work, as well as when he labeled some as the “Cantankerous.”]

Those blunders gave Ms. Emmanuel — who herself faltered, albeit in less significant segments — an opening.

“I feel excited, actually,” Ms. Emmanuel told The Consortium following her win. “Really happy. Didn’t expect it to turnout like that, but God made it happen and I’m really happy.” Ms. Emmanuel said she looked forward to attending local events and building her platform, which entails financial literacy for the youth of the territory.

The event was held at the St. Croix Educational Complex High School gymnasium, which was transformed into a pristine pageantry set whose layout could have accommodated the best in the business. Jason Gardner, the new chair of the Miss St. Croix pageant, brought his unique style and experience in pageantry and modeling to the table, and has essentially raised the bar for the show. There were three sets of judges, each concentrated on a segment, and the persons chosen by Mr. Gardner were either well accomplished Virgin Islanders in various disciplines, or had strong backgrounds in pageantry.

The show was also well attended, and was deemed successful by Mr. Gardner as well as St. Croix Festival Committee Chairman Davidson Charlemagne, who praised the pageant’s new chair’s efforts, telling The Consortium that Mr. Gardner “knows his stuff.”

All the contestants are to receive gifts. The second runner-up, Ms. James, will receive $1,500 in cash, a Cardo watch, 24″ HDTV, and a round trip ticket to St. Thomas, among other gifts. The first runner-up, who was Ms. Charles, will receive $3,500 in cash, a Cardo watch, a 32″ HDTV, round trip to Puerto Rico for one and an official sash.

The winner will receive a 2017 Ford Fiesta, a trip to Nevis to compete in the Miss Caribbean Culture and Pageant in 2018, a three-piece luggage set and official crown and sash. The show’s hosts were TV host, model and former Miss USVI Janeisha John, and Brandon Royal, a singer from the USVI whose participation in NBC’s The Voice captivated locals.

The new queen will represent St. Croix and the territory at upcoming events on and off-island; she will attend a myriad of functions throughout her reign, and serve as a role model for young ladies, encouraging them to lead lives that will see them becoming future leaders.

Tags: Miss St. Croix 2017-18, Shanisa Emmanuel