Last Sunday evening, Jennelli Fraser was crowned as the new Miss Universe Belize during a tight competition held at the Biltmore Plaza Hotel in Belize City. The 27-year-old Fraser is a native of Belize City and has taken over the title of Miss Universe Belize from Rebecca “Bex” Rath.
During the competition, Fraser demonstrated her charm and competence in all four different segments of the pageant. Fraser will go on to represent Belize in the Miss Universe Pageant, which will be held on December 16, 2018, in Bangkok, Thailand.
There was fierce yet friendly competition amongst the 11 contestants at the Biltmore Plaza Hotel to win the coveted title of Miss Universe Belize. Before the pageant began, Fraser published a statement on social media, saying, “I’ve never been so excited in my life about becoming an ambassador for my country. I want to thank everyone for their kind messages and support, and nothing means more to me than the respect and trust of the Belizean people.”
With a packed crowd in attendance, the pageant began promptly at 6:30 PM with a round-robin session where each contestant shared a snapshot biography of themselves with the pageant’s host, William Neal. Following the group introductions, Neal then brought each of the 11 contestants onto the stage for a question and answer session based on their biographies.
Things began to heat up during the second stage of the pageant, the swimsuit modeling competition. Sponsored by Pink Boutique, a popular local fashion retailer, Fraser demonstrated her poise and beauty with a spectacular performance.
After the swimsuit modeling competition, the audience was kept entertained with a thrilling performance from local up-and-coming artist Justin Castillo. The third segment of the pageant, the evening gown modeling competition, narrowed the field down to just five contenders, Ashley Reid, Selena Urias, Kiah Pastor, Christalyn Castillo, and, of course, Jenelli Fraser.
The fourth and final round of the pageant was a question and answer session with topics ranging from the decriminalization of marijuana to bullying. After tabulating the scores from all four rounds, Fraser was declared the winner. The second runner-up was Christalyn Castillo.
“We salute all 11 of the amazingly beautiful and intelligent young women who competed last Sunday in the Miss Universe Belize pageant,” said Larry France, marketing manager of Chabil Mar Resort. “And we congratulate Ms. Jennelli Fraser on her outstanding performance and look forward to seeing her represent Belize on the world stage.”
