A beaming Michelle Young (centre), the 2008 International Dancehall Queen and first runner-up Moika Stapley (left) and second runner-up Nami Crissy Kerisu at the conclusion of the Dancehall Queen Competition held in Montego Bay on the weekend.
Twenty-three-year-old Michelle Young, of Boston in the United States, created history yesterday morning at the Pier One Complex, in Montego Bay, when she became the first American to win the coveted Red Label Wine International Dancehall Queen title."I have never been this happy in my entire life," said the diminutive Young, as tears of joy rolled down her cheeks. "I am going to cherish this moment for the rest of my life - I am on top of the world."
By virtue of becoming the 11th winner of the annual contest, the charismatic Young, relegated fellow American, 24-year-old Moika Stapley, of Los Angeles and 22-year-old Japanese Nami Crissy Kerisu, into second and third places respectively. Young also walked away with over $500,000 in cash and prizes."I am extremely pleased with the way things went tonight, the fans came out in their thousands and it was an incident-free event," said businessman Brian 'Big Head' Martin, the promoter of the event."I want to congratulate the 31 contestants and the fans for making this year one of the best ever."
In addition to the top three places, which saw all three contestants getting trophies and gift packages, two other awards were handed out. The acrobatic Tavia Morris, one of the crowd favourites won the Best Costume Award while Young, who dazzled with her mastery of all the latest dance moves, took the Best Dancer Award.
Although Young was velvet smooth in all the various segments, initially it looked as though Morris would upstage her. The athletic Morris had the crowd in awe at one stage as she climbed one of the pylons supporting the stage and ended up dancing inside the roof, between the stage lights and decorations.
Unlike in previous years, the show flowed smoothly with very few glitches from the action started at 11:30 p.m. until shortly after 4:00 a.m. when Young was crowned against the backdrop of the pulsating beat of Beenie Man and Chevelle Franklin's hit, Dancehall Queen.
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