By Makeida Antonio

The 2023 Miss Charisma Pageant winner emerged from five stunning beauties who graced the stage at the Dean William Lake Cultural Centre on Saturday night.

Due to certain circumstances, some ladies dropped out of the competition, but the show went on with Delegate #1 Nakierra Martin, Delegate #2 Alicia Simmons, Delegate #3 Nicol Thomas, Delegate #4 Kenesha James, and Delegate #5 Shawonda Daniel.

Miss Charisma 2023 Nichol Thomas won the Speech Segment, Swimwear Segment, and Evening Wear Segment. First runner-up Kenesha James won the Interview Segment, and Talent Segment while Nakierra Martin placed second runner-up.

The winner received a Bluetooth headphone, a laptop, and a spa day courtesy Tropical Bliss among other prizes including clothing from various boutiques, and a gift basket with perfume sets while the second and third runner-ups received gifts from other sponsors such as Lipstick Antigua and Townhouse Megastore.

This show was previously hosted under another name for five years. However, The Miss Charisma pageant is brand new with fresh management. Sponsorship, however, was cited as one of the major challenges, according to one organizer, Anse Henry.

Henry disclosed to Antigua News that the event’s main sponsor pulled out at the last minute, forcing organizers to quickly hunt for new sponsors. He said a few sponsors eventually came through, but he hopes for bigger and better sponsorship.

“This year’s pageant was an exciting yet challenging one. We had a lot of ups and downs, but we still ended up putting on a fabulous production with five beauties and still had an amazing show,” Henry told Antigua News over the weekend.

Shirrine Gillon Designs was named one of the show’s biggest supporters who designed all the outfits the delegates wore.

“She worked tirelessly, long nights and she really pulled it together for us,” Henry highlighted.

The Dreamcatcher Modeling Agency was especially on top of providing visuals and talent with a special shoutout to MUA Charity Henry for her dedication to enhancing the beauties for the photoshoot and the pageant.

Henry believes that The Miss Charisma Pageant is a stepping stone for ladies to go on to bigger pageants such as the ABLP Labour Queen Show, Antigua Carnival Queen Show, and Jaycees Caribbean Queen Show.

“You need the experience to go to the next level. The experience not only pushed the delegates but motivated them to build a lot of self-confidence with natural integrity to just move on and do better. Our goal every year is to improve and do better,” Henry said.