Miss Jamaica Universe 2007, Zahra Redwood, at the preliminary judging of the Miss Universe pageant, last year, in Mexico City. - file

Miss Jamaica Universe 2008 will receive a new BMW motor car and $1 million in cash, as part of a fabulous array of gifts and prizes, along with the crown and title.

With the attraction of the prize package, Miss Jamaica Universe 2008 gets ready to welcome a record number of top-flight entrants as word spreads on the value of the winner's haul.

Most importantly, the shining beauty of the moment will have the honour of representing Jamaica at the Miss Universe pageant in Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa, Vietnam, wearing the glamorous Miss Jamaica wardrobe.

First, however, she will drive away in style, courtesy of Stewart's, in a brand-new, fully loaded two-litre BMW 120i hatchback. Her $1,000,000 in cash comes courtesy of World Wise Partners Ltd. These, along with other gifts and prizes, comprise a $10-million package.

Pulling all the stops

Both the Miss Jamaica Universe franchise holders, Pulse, and title sponsor, World Wise, are adamant that this year's event must be the most spectacular Miss Jamaica in the history of beauty pageants in the country, so they are pulling all the stops. In addition to the fabulous prizes, a show-stopping entertainment package is also in the works.

Miss Jamaica Roadshows, planned to bring the event closer to prospective entrants, will hit the road starting Saturday, February 2 when the Pulse team will be in Ocho Rios at Island Village. On Sunday, February 3, the roadshows move to the Mandeville Hotel, beginning at 3:00 p.m. Come Saturday, February 23, they will continue at the Portmore Pines Plaza commencing at 4:00 p.m., followed by the final activity on Sunday, February 24, at the Pulse Complex, 38A Trafalgar Road, in New Kingston.

Now in its 56th year, the Miss Universe pageant features some of the world's most beautiful and articulate women from some 85 countries. Miss Jamaica Universe 2008 will spend three weeks in Vietnam.

Significant success

Beautiful Jamaican young women between the ages of 18 and 26 years old, who are unmarried, have never had children, and who are charming, intelligent and aware, are encouraged to enter.

Jamaica has had significant success at Miss Universe pageant claiming four top-six finishes in Sandra Foster, Nicole Haughton, Christine Straw and Kimberley Mais. Most recently, Zahra Redwood, Miss Jamaica Universe 2007 and the first Rastafarian beauty queen to appear in a major international pageant, captured the imagination of the world press with her beauty,eloquence, charm and intelligence.

Intending to mirror Miss Universe, the world's most celebrated beauty spectacle in production, the Jamaica preliminary to Miss Universe is now counting down to the glamorous coronation show set for April 12, at the National Indoor Sports Centre. Miss Jamaica Universe is produced by Pulse, in association with Stewart's Auto Sales, BMW dealers in Jamaica, CVM-TV, Hilton Kingston hotel, Zip FM and Irie FM.