Valene in Miss World top 5

Reached by phone in China yesterday, Valene was ecstatic. “I am very proud,” she told Sunday Newsday, and her dress designer Bobby Ackbarali speaking from his hotel room in Sanya, China, said that the TT contingent in China was in a festive mood.

“The Trini Posse in the audience was waving in the audience to cheer her on.”

Miss China Zhang Zhi Li, 23, went on to eventually win the crown at the 57th edition of the Miss World beauty pageant which was held in her home country.

Zhi Li, a pre-contest favourite, was crowned Miss World 2007 much to the delight of the audience in front of an estimated two billion viewers around the globe.

The secretary from Beijing was the pre-contest favourite with British bookmakers along with Miss Dominican Republic. Miss Angola was first runner up and Miss Mexico second runner up. Bookies placed Miss Trinidad and Tobago at number 19 in odds to win the contest. At the questioning session Valene was calm and comfortable and waved to her mother in the audience.

Contestants were judged on an array of disciplines including physical fitness, style, dress, personality and beauty.

The 106 was whittled down to 16, then five, with hotly tipped Miss Dominican Republic not making the final five. Though Maharaj did not cop the crown, she did beat out 101 other beauties from around the world to make it to the intense final round of the competition.

Ackbarali praised Maharaj’s performance. “We are so proud of her. She was in the top five and came out on top of all the other Caribbean girls. That’s almost unbelievable, but I knew she would be a winner right away because she was also very disciplined and focused. She did a great job representing our country.” He joked, “Her mother and sister and Alyson Brown had our own Trini Posse waving in the audience to cheer her on. Now we have our own coronation ball going on to celebrate.”

Ackbarali was commissioned by Elias to design the iridescent, icy ocean blue gown Maharaj wore in the evening gown competition. He described the dress saying, “Valene wanted to look very Caribbean and I wanted to capture her soft personality, so the dress was created out of flowing lengths of chiffon and beaded in Swarovski crystals to match the Miss World crown.

That’s how confident we were.” Ackbarali added that he was thrilled to be a part of the Miss World team. “I am happy to be on board with this talented group of people. TT certainly showed the world that we have what it takes to make a Miss World.”

Elias was ecstatic about how well she represented TT overseas. “I thought she was wonderful. As far as I’m concerned, she won the show.

She did a magnificent job in promoting Trinidad and Tobago at Miss World. She placed in the top five and I’m so proud. She was phenomenal.”

Maharaj is originally from Gasparillo, but grew up in St Margaret’s with her four other siblings. Maharaj holds an Associate Degree in Business Administration from Roytec and last year was accepted to the American InterContinental University in Florida to pursue studies in Fashion, Fine Arts and Marketing. However, she chose to defer her studies to follow her dreams and fulfill her role as a representative of Trinidad and Tobago.

Her modelling career started at the age of 16 when she won the Caribbean Model Search. That title gave her the opportunity to travel in and outside of the region to pursue her career. She has modelled at Jamaica’s Caribbean Fashion Week, been the poster girl for advertising campaigns for Micles clothing, worked with chic local fashion designers like Peter Elias and Meiling as well as being photographed by TT’s most sought after photographer Calvin French.

After being crowned Miss TT World on May 20, Maharaj, experienced a whirlwind training from an expert team consisting of Person-ality Development Coach Adrian Raymond, Stage Performance Spe-cialist Alyson Brown, wardrobe designer Bobby Ackbarali and Fashion Stylist Peter Elias.