Sept. 28, 2008 — Olga Martinez captured the title of Miss Virgin Islands Puerto Rico Friendship Queen with poise and talent Sunday, after two hours of close competition at the Frederik E. Dorsch Center in Frederiksted.
The only other contestant, 19-year-old Jana Weston, was first runner-up.
Martinez, who said she looks forward to being a cultural ambassador, was also named Miss Popularity and wowed the audience with her talent, singing entirely in Spanish, while dressed in a colorful gown with sleeves depicting the flags of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. In addition to her crown, she walked away with a cash prize of $600, a laptop computer, a gift basket and other tokens including a $75 dinner certificate, trophy, and hotel stay.
Prizes for Weston, who was named Miss Photogenic, included $400 cash, a gift basket, an iPod and other tokens including a trophy, flowers and a smaller crown.
Pageant organizer Lydia Rivera said that the cash was awarded courtesy of the V.I. Tourism Department.
The competition between the two contestants on Sunday was tight until Weston flubbed her lines during her speech. The audience was supportive, though, and some called on her to "take your time."
The contestants were judged on swimwear, cultural wear, speech, talent, and evening wear.
Weston danced ballet during her segment while Martinez performed a skit and sang a song in Spanish. The two were regal in cultural outfits fashioned from madras fabric with Martinez portraying a market woman in blue-and-gold madras and Weston looking like a model in a strapless gown of red, gold and green madras with slip-on sleeves and matching wide-brimmed hat.
Rivera, who has chaired the pageant for four years, said would like to see the pageant grow to the magnitude it once was.
"We used to have more contestants and larger turnouts but there was a very long pause, and we recently began holding the queen show again," she said. "I'm hearing from a lot of young ladies that they think they have to be Hispanic to run for Miss VIPR and they don't — it is two cultures, both Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, so I hope to dispel that myth once and for all. Next year, we hope to see a lot more of our young ladies vying for the title."
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