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Gumbs Named Carnival Queen in Big Win

April 13, 2008 — Racking up a total of 1,299 out of a possible 1,395 points from the judges, Charlotte Amalie High School senior Lessley-Ann Gumbs was crowned 2008 Carnival Queen during the annual selection show held Saturday evening on St. Thomas.
Gumbs cleaned up in all judges' award categories, winning best cultural/historical costume, best talent, best evening wear and best intellect. While there was no runner-up this year, 17-year-old Shanique Henley took the awards for Miss Cooperative, Miss Congeniality and Miss Photogenic.
Rounding out the group, 16-year-old Aniska Tonge was a heavy crowd favorite, generating loud applause and cheers during the talent segment, where she dressed up as a mongoose and invited the audience to join her in a cultural "bacchanal." Tonge also sang "Sly Mongoose," and played the tune on a steel pan drum.
Paying tribute to the territory's taxi drivers, Gumbs came on stage during the cultural/historical costume segment, dressed as a bright red safari bus — complete with a dummy passenger — dancing to Jam Band's famous "Inspection Lane." The safari bus, Gumbs said, is as unique to the territory as New York City's yellow cabs or England's double decker bus.
During the swimsuit segment, Gumbs also paid tribute to her grandmother — who passed away three weeks ago — wearing a "little black" costume decorated with glittering crystals. It was her evening gown — a floor length sky-blue dress designed in New York especially for the selection show — that seemed to clinch the title for Gumbs, along with her response during the question and answer segment.
When asked what democratic presidential candidate she would vote for, Gumbs did not hesitate in her endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama, who she said could relate to a number of different cultures because of his family background.
"It's all about racial equality," she said.
Though the stadium was only half-full Saturday, the sounds of the audience more than filled the air throughout the evening, as a number of musical and dance performances rounded out the program. The harmonious Spectrum Band, dressed in full madras, got bodies out of the seats with songs from their new CD along with renditions of popular dancehall and reggae hits, while an opening performance by the Production Dancers — dressed in gold, silver, orange and red body suits topped off with matching capes — started the show out on all the right notes.
Steams of confetti exploded into the air as the performance ended and each Carnival contestant stepped up to the microphone to introduce themselves.
Stepping up to the stage once again after she was crowned, Gumbs thanked God, her family, friends and other supporters for their help in getting her prepared for the competition.
"This experience was very hard for me, especially when it came to balancing my time, but I pulled through in the end," she said. "It was a wonderful experience, and now, I just want to wish everyone a very happy and safe Carnival."
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