While watching the show I received phone calls from all over the world where fellow Dominicans watch in horror at what was passed off as a queen show.  I sat in utter disgust on Friday night watching the 2008 National Queen show. It is not my intention to sound negative, and I know the first thing people say is not to tear down others efforts; however, it is time for us t o call a spade an ugly spade.

In my opinion, which I am wholly entitled to, the show was the worst in recent years. It appeared that the young ladies were ill-prepared for the show and their lackluster performances proved that. I was really ashamed of my country showcasing what was supposed to be it's best and brightest in that fiasco of a pageant.

What are these coaches and chaperones teaching these young ladies? Aren't they supposed to coach on and help develop these young ladies personalities? Aren't they supposed to coach on poise and lady-like carriage and self presentation? None of that was evident in the show.

The talent round was sophomoric at best and failed to be neither interesting nor particularly entertaining.   The monologue skits with badly recorded sound effects were something I would expect in 1988. Here we are in 2008 and there seems to have been no progress made with what these young ladies are provided with as options for talent presentation.

I think my biggest issue with the show and its contestants was the way in which the young ladies spoke. I am a Dominican and I am well aware of what a Dominican accent sounds like. These young ladies had horrible diction, improper grammar and poor enunciation of the most basic of words. The phonetics with which they spoke were worst than that of some preschoolers. Is this the best and brightest that we have to offer?

The only thing that I was pleased with was the modeling in the swimsuit and eveningwear rounds. The girls know how to swing and toss their various hair weaves and twirl around in a bathing suit in high heels. Many accolades go out to them on that front. (I am going to choose to ignore the fact that some of the bathing suits were ill-fitted and the fabric bunched up in places where it should not have).

On the topic of hair and make up, I would also like to add that; in 2008, short hair is beautiful also. Marcella LaRoque never had long and flowing hair, neither did Diane Francis and they where two of the most successful Ms. Dominica's ever.

The dresses this year lacked imagination. Even the dress of the winning contestant was borderline lewd with the amount of skin it exposed. These gowns were not what I would consider on the cutting edge of fashion. The colors were not matched to the individual's skin tone in most cases.

After having to sit through all of this and wonder what we in Dominica were really thinking when we accepted applications from these people to be Ms. Dominica, there came the interview/question and answer round. None of the young ladies bothered to answer the questions they were asked. They pontificated for what seemed like an eternity on subject matter that, although well rehearsed, had nothing to do with the actual question posed.

By the end of the show I was so disgusted; I was ready for the judges to give Leandra Lander the crown for another year. None of this current crop of young ladies deserved that crown. You may disagree with me if you support whoever won. My vindication will be in the fact that she does not bring home any of the other regional crowns like her predecessors. There, I said it. Let me see who is brave enough to either agree with me or refute my opinion with a plausible unemotional response.

Have at it!