Miss Grand Trinidad and Tobago 2023

Miss Grand Trinidad and Tobago 2023 was the inaugural edition of the Miss Grand Trinidad and Tobago pageant.[1] The grand final of the contest, which was originally set for September 2,[1] was organized on September 10, 2023, at the Banquet and Conference Centre MovieTowne Mall, Port of Spain.[2][3][4]

Miss Grand Trinidad and Tobago 2023
Mileidy Materano, the winner of the contest
DateSeptember 10, 2023
VenueBanquet and Conference Centre MovieTowne Mall, Port of Spain
Entrants11
Placements7
Debuts
WinnerMileidy Materano
(Diego Martin West)
2024 →
Miss Grand Trinidad and Tobago 2023 competition result by administrative division
Color key:
  Winner
  Top 7
  1st runner-up
  Unplaced
  2nd runner-up
  Withdrew
  No representative

Fifteen candidates, who qualified for the national round through an audition, will compete for the title,[1] of whom, a 29-year-old Venezuelan actress representing Diego Martin West, Mileidy Materano, was elected the winner,[4][5][6] while the representatives of St. Joseph and Caroni Central, Rebekah Hislop and Maria Enika Ramnath, were named the runners-up.[5] Materano was expected to represent the country at the Miss Grand International 2023 pageant in Vietnam on October 25, 2023.[1][2]

The election of Materano caused a lot of debate since she is not a Trinidad and Tobago-born national, but an immigrant from Venezuela in 2017 due to the Crisis in Venezuela.[5][7][8] Legal action was also pursued for some intimidation.[9][10] Due to such the mentioned circumstances, Mileidy resigned from the title a week before the international contest schedule, and the first runner-up, Rebekah Hislop, automatically took over the title.[11]

Background

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After two consecutive years of sending Trinidad and Tobago representatives to compete at the male competition, Mister Grand International, the pageant organizer of Stolen Productions Ltd. (SPL Pageants) additionally purchased the female license of Miss Grand International for Trinidad and Tobago in 2023 and planned to organize the first competition of Miss Grand National pageant to elect the winner to compete in the 2023 international tournament in Vietnam.[1] The pageant was held parallelly with the male category, Mister Grand Trinidad and Tobago,[1][2][12] which was first organized in 2022.[2][12]

Before reaching the national grand final, the organizer held an audition to select the finalists on July 23 at Studio 28 located in the country capital, Port of Spain,[1][13][14][15] in which the top 15 finalists for each category were elected.[1][2] All candidates were later revealed in the Grand Reveal Ceremony held on August 6 at the Luna Restaurant West Mall, Port of Spain.[16][5]

The grand final round of the pageant was originally set for September 2, 2023, at the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts (SAPA), San Fernando,[1] but was later rescheduled to September 10 and the venue was moved to the Banquet and Conference Centre in MovieTowne Mall, Port of Spain.[2][3]

Result

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Position Delegate[4][5][11]
Miss Grand Trinidad and Tobago 2023
1st runner-up
2nd runner-up
Top 7
Special award
Miss Congeniality
  • Arima – Hashanna Hosein

Contestants

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External videos
  Miss Grand Trinidad and Tobago 2023: Grand final coronation, on September 10, 2023, YouTube video

Initially, fifteen contestants confirmed their participation, but four of them withdrew.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Innis Francis (July 25, 2023). "T& T to crown delegates to compete In Mr. and Miss Grand International". Trinidad and Tobago Guardian. Retrieved July 29, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Ryan Hamilton-Davis (August 17, 2023). "Kehra Ramsubhag's 'Grand' idea: Pageants create leaders". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. Archived from the original on August 19, 2023. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Mister and Miss Grand Trinidad and Tobago: the Grand Finale Coronation". Stolen Productions Ltd. August 19, 2023. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c "Mileidy Materano to represent Trinidad and Tobago at Miss Grand International 2023". Wicnews.com. September 11, 2023. Archived from the original on September 11, 2023. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Venezuelan Wins a Miss T&T Pageant". Azpnews.com. AZP News. September 11, 2023. Archived from the original on September 12, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  6. ^ Kimberly Wallace (September 15, 2023). "Let's celebrate our diversity". Trinidad Express Newspapers. Archived from the original on September 16, 2023. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  7. ^ "Elección de venezolana como Miss Trinidad y Tobago alimenta debate sobre migración" (in Spanish). El Heraldo [es]. September 11, 2023. Archived from the original on September 12, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  8. ^ Kimberly Wallace (September 13, 2023). "Venezuelan was 'eligible' to compete". Trinidad Express Newspapers. Archived from the original on September 16, 2023. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  9. ^ "Venezuelan Beauty Queen Faces Death Threats Following Miss Grand T&T Victory". The Times of India. September 20, 2023. Archived from the original on September 20, 2023. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  10. ^ a b Rhondor Dowlat. "Mileidy gives up Miss Grand International T&T crown... Claims she has to fund own way to Vietnam". Trinidad and Tobago Guardian. Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  11. ^ a b Nicholas Maraj (November 4, 2022). "15 compete in Mister Grand Trinidad and Tobago pageant". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. Archived from the original on July 29, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  12. ^ Mahalia Joseph-Wharton (July 26, 2023). "Mister And Miss Grand International Casting Call". Trinidad and Tobago Television. Archived from the original on July 29, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  13. ^ "Mister And Miss Grand International Casting Call" (YouTube Video). TTT Live Onlive. July 26, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  14. ^ "Mister Grand 2022 Acquil Arthur, centre, poses for a picture with some hopefuls for the 2023 screening of Mister and Miss Grand International Competition on Sunday at Studio 28, Maraval Road, Port-of-Spain". Trinidad and Tobago Guardian. July 25, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  15. ^ "The Grand Reveal". Islandetickets.com. 2023. Archived from the original on August 19, 2023. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
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