Model hopefuls flock Pulse for CMS

Chester Francis-Jackson, Contributor

And so, exit Virgo and enter Libra. Celebrating today are: entrepreneur Kynan Cooke; the fab Betty Valiante McKenzie; the charming Lorna Baxter; the lovely Hortense James; the gorgeous Kenya Desulme, now in South Florida; the lovely Winni Harris, in St George's, Grenada; actress Fleurette Harris, now in Long Island, New York; and the fabulous Marlene Campbell-Hargitay. Come tomorrow, author and publisher Joanne Simpson; the charming Judith Bodley; radio personality Steve James; the charmingly fab Shantell Creary and the lovely Muriel Evans in Long Island, New York, will share the same birthday.

On Sunday: designer extraordinaire Bill Edwards; Montego Bay socialite Katrin Casserly; the lovely Sandrene Weichenberger, also in Montego Bay; and the fab Rose-Marie Jackson-Facey, in Florida, will have lots to celebrate.

On Monday birthday celebrants include: Khori-Ann Robb-Beckford of Headline Entertainment and Tasha-Gaye Slater of Penthouse Records.

Come Tuesday: the charmingly fab Carole Orane-Andrade, now in Toronto, Canada; fashion stylist Michael Atkinson; diva of fabness Ashley-Ann de Theo, in the United Kingdom; and Jon Sexton, also in the UK - all share the same birthday.

Wednesday will not arrive early enough for: north coast grande dame Annabella Proudlock, of the famed Harmony Hall Gallery; the fab Simone Chin, of Total Travel; Suzan Salmon, over in the nation's first capital; the gorgeous Jackay Golding, in the Big Apple; the simply fabulous Geri McLean, in London, England; north coast habitués Hugh Blunt of Monument Beach in Massachusetts, and Mark Stiegelbauer of Bayside, New York; and O'Linda Raheena McKenzie of Brooklyn, New York, who will all be partying like rock stars.

Come next Thursday, former PNP MP, now independent, Sharon Hay-Webster; former MP Danny Melville; entrepreneurial managerial consultant Colin Steele; the charming Patricia Huntington; Jolyan Silvera; the fab Joan Lee in Montego Bay; model Trevon Salmon, also in the Second City; the erstwhile Mike Miller, in New York; and the lovely Carolyne Amoyah, in Mombassa, Kenya, see out the first week of Libra celebrations. Belated birthday greetings to Virgoans: Opposition MP Fitz Jackson and the legendary Ewart 'U-Roy' Beckford, who both celebrated their birthday on Wednesday.

And congrats are in order as the word is Steven Golding, son of Prime Minister Bruce Golding and wife Lorna Golding, and his belle, media and entertainment personality Emprezz, have decided on tying the knot on October 2 at the University Chapel, with reception to follow at Vale Royal.

Then my dears, there are few social institutions that have impacted so positively on the culture of Jamaica and Jamaicans as the trailblazing Pulse. The organisation, founded by the very avant-garde Kingsley Cooper, first came to the fore in the 1980s, and from the very get-go has been at the forefront of providing the national platform from which aspiring models and beauties can access the international stage in pursuit of fame and fortune on the runways and catwalks of the world, not to mention the lacquered pages of fashion mags.

Transforming the social landscape

Since its inception, Pulse's services as a grooming and modelling agency has not only transformed the social landscape of the island generally, but the achievements of its models since the heady days of Althea Laing gracing the cover of Essence, has led to a plethora of new agencies. With a slew of international successes, Pulse can lay claim to being not only Jamaica's premier modelling agency, but also claim bragging rights to helping portray Jamaica's image in a positive light, with a catalogue that includes: Jaunel McKenzie, Nell Robinson, Oraine Barrett and the near-Cinderella rags-to-international-fame story of Nadine Willis, it's only natural that each year the hopefuls beat a path to Pulse's door, hoping for international stardom.

And last Friday was no different. The place to be was Studio 38 as the fab fashion bistro was buzzing as the hot bikini-clad hopefuls of this year's Caribbean Model Search (CMS) took on the runway challenge. Dubbed the Battle of the Runway by fashionistas, this is one of three in this year's contest, the others being the swimsuit and photo challenges.

Well my dears, talk about hot, it was like that and then some, as this scribe and model-watcher of many a mango season had a juice of a time in picking an early fave as the lads and lassies came to do battle.

With a standing-room-only audience and amid the sips and spills, a number of the hopefuls were brimming with star potential, including the night's winner Anisha Pitterson. Quite a buxom lass, she had a hint of verve and sass in her stride, much like past winner Shevolee Bell. Then there were Monique Dawkins, Fiona Davis, Victoria Yap Chung and Cleopatra Henry to round off hot picks in the women's categories.

In the men's category, Adam Fernandez, Canaan Wallace and Zawadi Diog Maitland brought electricity to the stage. But there was no escaping the disappointment of the crowd when two of their faves, Yannick Sharpe and Davion McKen, were not named in the top 10 of the Male Runway Challenge finalists.

Their omission, however, seemed to have been just what their fans needed, as they were not only vocal in their support, but were even more so in their promises of support for the remaining two challenges, and thus setting up some fab expectation for the next rounds.

And then there was Damian Latty, the contestant with his arm in an elaborate cast, with the story being he was involved in a car accident recently. But he was determined to make the show and came, cast and all. His determination paid off, with a place in the top 10 men's challenge. It was, overall, one fab night out.

Among the notables spotted were: leading PNP members, fresh from their conference's private session earlier that day, Chairman Robert Pickersgill; General Secretary Peter Bunting; MP Anthony Hylton; MP and former Miss World, the stunning Lisa Hanna; Senator Mark Golding; former MP and government minister John Junor; Dr Winston Davidson; and Alston Douglas.

Others out were the artistic director of the National Dance Theatre Company and famed choreographer Barry Moncrieffe; singer and reality TV judge Nadine Sutherland; musicologist and ace DJ Squeeze; the lovely Angela Amir; the charmingly fab Seya Henry-Wilson; TV personality Winford Williams; Steve James; the Pulse stunners: Vogue star Alexia Palmer; 2010 winner Hannah Lettman; and cover girl Latoya Samuels; plus scores more.