Jamaica produced its best-ever placing at a Miss Universe pageant last night, when Yendi Phillips took the runner-up spot to Mexico’s Jimena Navarrete at the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas, USA.

Phillips and Navarrette went neck and neck after receiving the two highest averages in the swimsuit and evening gown sections (9.155 and 9.089 respectively) with the question and answer section deciding the eventual winner. In the end, Mexico’s answer to a question on unsupervised Internet use and its effects on youths was apparently better than Jamaica’s answer to that of the continued use of the death penalty. This is Mexico’s second win; its first was in 1991.

question and answer

The show, hosted by Brett Michaels and Natalie Morales, was divided in three segments – swimsuit, which showcased the top 15 (chosen before last night’s final), evening gown, which showed the top 10 (chosen after swimsuit) and question-and-answer which had the top 5 averages in both sections.

The top five chosen were Ukraine, Mexico, Australia, Jamaica and the crowd favourite, the Philippines. Other crowd favourites, Miss USA and Miss Venezuela, failed to advance to the top 15. Live entertainment was provided by John Legend and the Roots as well as Cirque du Soleil.

In a surprising twist, Philippines’ Maria Venus Raj was the fourth runner-up after receiving an average score of 8.835 in the swimsuit and gown sections, and failing to adequately answer her question. Ukraine and Australia were 4th and 3rd, respectively.

proud achievement

In a release sent last night, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Olivia Grange described Yendi’s feat as “a proud achievement”. “Yendi has made Jamaica very proud and I am confident she will continue to be an outstanding ambassador for our country,” Grange said. “She is such a wonderful person, a real Jamaican inspiration. She deserves all the success. I congratulate the winner, Jimena Navarette of Mexico; and offer her our best wishes.”

The minister’s sentiments were also shared globally via social networks, Twitter as well as Yendi’s Facebook fan page. One fan on her page wrote, “Congratulations from Curacao! You deserved to win! Your answer was superb!”

Another from Twitter said, “When all is said and done @Therealyendip (her twitter account) represented Jamaica to the fullest and the best of her ability. #teamyendi wi seh same way!”

Beenie Man and D’Angel – file

After making several public appearances together in recent times, D’Angel says she has forgiven her husband Beenie Man and plans to leave their marriage in God’s hands.

The two were recently spotted at the Guinness premiere of The Expendables at the Carib theatre on Friday night. They hugged and walked closely, taking pictures for their fans, and the media, at intervals.

And it was just last month that the couple performed together at Reggae Sumfest.

Despite what was a very bitter, public break-up in 2007, after getting married in 2006, the two seem to be on good terms and D’Angel says she has forgiven him for what transpired between them.

“Most definitely! ‘Cause, if God has forgiven us for our sins, who am I not to forgive him. I am stronger now and I am very focused. I have moved on from the past and I have forgiven him,” she told THE STAR.

She added, “If I forgive him, that don’t make me a stupid woman. I have learnt from it and I am stronger. I have overcome. I can battle any weather. I am like the Rock of Gibraltar.”

As for working on their marriage, D’Angel was reluctant to say much.

“Where our personal life is concerned, I would rather not comment. Where the marriage is concerned, we leave that in God’s hands. Marriages always have ups and downs,” she told THE STAR.

“Regardless of what happened in the past, we have to look beyond that. Me and Moses as husband and wife is something that we have to work on outside of the media,” she added.

And not only do they share a marriage, but D’Angel said they also share a child, who she wants to set an example for. In addition, she says she is a role model to many teenagers and women.

“At the end of the day, we entertain and we do music. So we have to set examples,” she said, noting that she has to live up to the brands that she represents like Coke Zero, Digicel and Access Financial Services.

D’Angel also noted that they have been making public appearances since 2008. However, she said: “Being with Moses in public, I am not doing it for recognition or hype. I am not looking for no success or fame as a result of this. If every artiste a call peace now, why can’t we?”

In the meantime, she said You Are My First, which she did with Beenie Man is doing well. So, too, is her other single Come Over. D’Angel is also set to release another track called Yes Mi Know, which features Beenie Man, in the near future.