The new Miss Solomon Islands was crowned last Saturday night and she is Emily Chan.
Miss Chan snatched the crown from six other contestants in a ceremony staged at the Coral Sea Resort in Honiara.
The six others included Miss Samlinsan Mowisha Angiki, Miss SINU Hephzibah Karibule, Miss Guadalcanal Gladys Vasuni, Miss Malaita Greimie Ezra, Miss Coral Sea Venaliz-Tehesuinga and Miss New World Marrisah Senikau Fox.
The 19-year old Miss Chan is a student of the Anglican-owned Saint Nicholas College in Honiara and is a grand-daughter of the owner of the Honiara Hotel Sir Tommy Chan.
On the crowning night, the seven women contested on stage in five different categories- traditional attire, sarong wear, stage talent, culture display and stage interview.
Miss Honiara Hotel, Miss Chan scooped most of the prizes for those categories and secured the Miss Solomon Islands crown.
Miss Solomon Islands Pageant (MSIP) Director Joyce Konofilia said the judging process for this year was different to that of last year to avoid repeating the hiccups experienced with the announcement of the final result.
“So what normally happens is that the judges have certain criteria on each of the categories.
“They won’t confront each other, they won’t see one another’s marks and they won’t add the total aggregate but just pass on their marks on to the auditor.
“The judges don’t know how they rank each other’s marks and therefore we can’t be blamed for the final outcome,” she explained.
She insisted that the judges are totally neutral and they are totally transparent.
“There are three special categories which the judges don’t have anything to do with.
“One is the Miss Personality, a category in which the contestants vote who has the most outstanding personality,” Ms Konofilia said.
“The float parade is another special category that doesn’t add up to the final marks of the crowning night.
“The third category is the Miss Internet where the public votes via social media two weeks prior to the finals.
“We just have to explain the process. It’s not normal for a pageant to do this.
“But we need to avoid problems and issues after the crowning,” Ms Konofilia added.
Below are the results of the different category competitions and the final result of the 2017 Miss Solomon Islands Pageant:
Special awards
Best Float – Miss SINU, Hephzibah Karibule.
Best Talent award – Miss Honiara Hotel, Emily Chan.
Best Sarong – Miss Honiara Hotel, Emily Chan.
Best Traditional contemporary award – Miss Honiara Hotel, Emily Chan.
Miss Personality award – Miss Honiara Hotel, Emily Chan.
Miss Photogenic – Miss Malaita, Greimie Ezra.
Miss Social Media award – Miss Malaita, Greimie Ezra.
Main categories
Winner 2017 Miss Solomon Islands, Miss Honiara Hotel, Emily Chan.
1st runner-up, Miss SINU, Hephzibah Karibule.
2nd runner-up, Miss Samlimsan, Mowisha Angiki.
3rd runner-up, Miss New World, Marrisah Senikau.
4th runner-up, Miss Malaita, Greimie Ezra.
5th runner-up, Miss Guadalcanal, Gladys Vasuni.
6th runner-up, Miss Coral Seas Resort and Casino Venaliz-Tehesuinga Lai.
By SIMON ABANA