Miss World
by Sonia Golt
B eauty Queen of the Rock If 12th December was a day of celebration in Gibraltar on hearing that Kaiane Aldorino was crowned Miss World in Johannesburg, South Africa, we surpassed ourselves with the warm, well deserved and even more spectacular homecoming! The red and white flags waved at the airport as the private jet touched her home soil, and more flags filled Main Street to show Kaiane Aldorino she has besotted everyone in Gibraltar with her smile, attitude and charisma. The Royal Gibraltar Regiment played a fanfare as she disembarked and in true VIP fashion, Kaiane was greeted by the Chief Minister and Mrs Caruana, and the Minister for Culture Edwin Reyes and Mrs Reyes, who together with her parents and close family members waited to welcome her home.
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For the parade down Main Street, she was indeed treated like royalty, as she sat in the same car used by Lady Diana and Prince Charles on their honeymoon to Gibraltar. There were so many people on the street it was nearly impossible for the car to get through… confetti filled the air and the atmosphere was so festive it’s hard to believe any other Miss World had been so acclaimed as this special lady! All smiles yet again from Kaiane as she emotionally came out on the balcony of City Hall to wave and show her admiration and thanks for
Gibraltar’s welcome. “I am overwhelmed with this welcome and I am really happy to be Gibraltarian — I was already but if at all possible I am even more proud now.” The spokesperson for the Miss World organisation then said it was the most emotive welcome they had ever seen in the 59 years of visiting countries with their respective Miss World winners. Kaiane then took the mike again to say she was really happy to be Gibraltar’s Ambassador and called on her parents and sister to join her on the balcony to celebrate this moment. Champagne overflowed as red and white confetti and streamers fell on everyone present in a beautiful and colourful cascade. Later she lit the fireworks laid on in her honour — another moment Kaiane will treasure forever since being crowned Miss World 2009. Miss Gibraltar continues to be the highlight of the local social calendar and from now on it is bound to be even more highly acclaimed. The Miss Gibraltar pageant goes back to 1959 and was originally organised by Vox newspaper, run by the late Eddie Campello. The first winner was Viola Abudarham, who now lives in Canada but visits Gibraltar regularly. The show was then not produced until 1964 when it was staged at Wellington Front GBC Studios and produced by Roger Kent for three years. Then in 1967 the show was taken over by the Gibraltar Tourist Office and from 1968-’71 it was produced by well-known TV personalities of the time Clive and Sonia Golt with St Michael’s Cave as the venue. A number of well known producers followed, including the Baron, John Artesani, Alex Britto and the late Eduardo Viotto and William Gomez. 2009’s Miss Gibraltar, Kaiane, took a series of dresses and gowns with her to Miss World and some were by local designer Priscilla Sacramento who had this to say: “I am delighted, absolutely thrilled at this lovely young woman’s success. Her inner beauty comes through even before you get to know her, and her physical beauty (all 100% natural!) is obvious — which is why she won the coveted Beach Beauty competition. I was so excited when she asked me to make her formal evening gown for the Miss World pageant!” The special gown was made from fabrics by ‘Marfil’ in Malaga, who donated a 1,000 euro voucher to Miss Gibraltar for the winner, for their very exclusive fabrics (used by some of the top designers of the world for their creations). “Kaiane chose a rich Chantilly lace edged with picots, re-embroidered and heavily beaded by hand, which I used on the bias for the bodice of her gown, augmented by additional appliqués cut out of the same Chantilly lace to give an uneven finish to the dropped waistline of the bodice and also to edge the cutaway armholes and neckline at the back,” Priscilla explains. “The skin coloured bias-cut skirt is made from pure silk, slit over the left leg and edged throughout with circular-cut waterfall frills, over a loose lining also in skin-coloured bias-cut pure silk. At the lowest point where the bodice meets the slit skirt, silver-coated jewellery wire was used on two Chantilly lace cut-out motifs to create a three-dimensional effect that made the gown stand away from the body of the dress. This was the third time that my gowns have been shown at Miss World pageants.” Kaiane’s outstanding performance in Miss
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2010