PHILIPSBURG--The St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) introduced its last set of contestants on Tuesday for its most important pageant: The Miss St. Maarten Senior Carnival Queen Pageant. Five young women between the ages of 17 and 25 will compete for the coveted crown and a title that will take her throughout the region to represent The Friendly Island.

The five contestants are Leysha de la Rosa, Jeanneth Provacia, Carlisha Philips, Glenicia Mitchell and Khalela Warno. All of the contestants have been on stage in front of crowds before and, according to the SCDF, are eager to take centre stage on Wednesday, April 25 in Carnival Village.

The Senior Pageant and Teen Pageant will be held on the same night, and will feature a combined 10 girls competing for the two crowns. The Senior Queen contestants will compete in five segments, introduction, talent, Carnival costume, swim wear and evening wear.

Just like the teen contestants, the Seniors Queen contestants will also have to compete in a Speech & Culture Wear competition on Saturday, April 14. The points from that competition will carry over to the final score on the night of the pageant.

"We are happy with all our pageants but the Senior Pageant is important because the young lady who will eventually be crowned will also be our flag bearer at pageants overseas," President of the SCDF Stuart Johnson said. "She will carry the distinction of Miss St. Maarten and as such we place great emphasis on this pageant. The contestants will go through all sorts of training, from Toastmasters training to their modelling skills, everything will be covered," he added.

The SCDF also announced that the Junior Carnival Queen Pageant, for children between the ages of 7 to 12, will not be held for Carnival 2012 due to low registration. "We are sure that the pageant will make a comeback in 2013," Johnson said. The Senior Carnival Queen Pageant is sponsored by United Telecommunication Services (UTS) Chippie.