By CLEOPATRA MURPHY

Freeport News Intern

The controversy swirling around the Miss Bahamas Universe Pageant continues amidst claims that the organization was uncooperative and disrespectful to the reigning Grand Bahama queen, 19-year-old Garelle Hudson.

"The experience could have been better for Miss Grand Bahama," said Glen Davis, president of the Miss Bahamas Grand Bahama Pageant.

According to Davis, when Hudson arrived in Nassau for the competition there was already a young lady competing under the title of Miss Grand Bahama.

He noted that this travesty should never have happened because the Miss Grand Bahama Pageant is a registered contest and as such, anyone else but the crowned Miss Grand Bahama is prohibited from competing under the title.

"No one was respecting our property," Davis said, noting that the organization can take legal action, although his committee has chosen not to pursue that route.

Adding her own take on the matter, Hudson said she feels that pageant organizers failed in their duties as they did not follow standard procedure when notified that she held the official title.

She said organizers att-empted to place her in the pageant as Miss Freeport while the other young lady maintained her title, but she refused to accept that title; instead, she opted to fight for the name Miss Grand Bahama, which the Miss Bahamas Universe organization was tardy in handing over to her.

According to Hudson, while the other 15 contestants wore the official Miss Bahamas Universe sashes, she was forced to wear her bright pink Miss Grand Bahama sash for three weeks until the title was turned over to her.

After she regained her title, the young lady previously holding it was given the Miss Freeport title.

"I feel that basic protocol was not carried out in regards to the name when they were notified that it was a registered name," Hudson said. "There was a bit of laziness in switching the sashes."

This was not the only stumbling block she faced. According to Hudson while other contestants got their tickets to the pageant up to three weeks in advance, she did not get her tickets until three days before the event.

"Representing a committee and a whole island, I didn't even get sponsor tickets. When I asked for them they were like first come, first served and that's the same thing they said with the sash."

She said she felt disrespected in the competition because pageant operators were fully aware that the crowned Miss Grand Bahama is automatically forwarded to the Miss Bahamas Universe Pageant.

Davis noted that he felt because his committee fought to retain the Miss Grand Bahama title in the competition, it somehow hampered Hudson's advancement.

"I think that caused the committee to be against her," he said. "They showed no respect to her and I think that is why they dropped her out of it."

Davis noted that the pageant, as it stands, needs to be reworked because the contestants are not truly representative of The Bahamas.

He noted that girls from New Providence are chosen to represent the islands and that should not be the case. Instead, he said organizers should make an effort to incorporate the family islands into the pageant so it could be a true reflection of what the country has to offer.

"Why give her Bimini's name if she's not from Bimini?" he questioned.

Another point of contention for Davis and Hudson is the seemingly political nature of the pageant.

Hudson, who was cut in the first round, noted that she felt the only persons who advanced further in the competitions were the ones with better connections.

"If you are not a politician's daughter, have a major company that sponsored the pageant or don't know the right people, you would not have placed," she said.

Davis noted, "Politics and pageantry do not mix. That's the bottom line."

Weighing in on the controversy over the crowned Miss Bahamas Universe, Kiara Sherman, Hudson noted that while Sherman was a nice girl, judging by the reaction of the judges at her victory, she did not feel she was the one they had chosen.

Furthering the drama behind this year's pageant, first runner-up Ife Bethel-Sears, who was crowned Miss Earth Bahamas, resigned days after the pageant, citing that she was going to focus on her college education, The Nassau Guardian reported.

Although the Miss Bahamas Universe Pageant did not have the outcome she would have liked, Hudson said overall pageants can be a very useful tool for young ladies.

"It is positive, polishing you into a more presentable, eloquent young lady," she said. "If you're not open minded and can't take criticism you won't go far."

Leaving her latest pageant experience behind, Hudson said she is ready for her next competition set to take place in China. She will be competing for The Bahamas in the Miss Global Beauty Pageant.

Ready to take on this new challenge of an international pageant, she noted that the experience will be a completely different one because international pageants are of a different calibre than they are at home.

"It will be a good experience and I'm going to take in everything that I can," Hudson said enthusiastically.