The newly established Crown Events Inc. announced over the weekend at Limegrove’s Lifestyle Centre how they acquired the rights to produce the national event to send a contestant to the prestigious Miss Universe® pageant for 2016.

The official name of the contest will be Miss Universe® Barbados and will change the culture of the Miss Universe Pageant in Barbados, offering a very unique opportunity to the contestants, with image building, health & fitness, beauty and confidence seminars, combined with a myriad of social and corporate networking commitments. The pageant intends to become the opportunity for the young ladies of Barbados to truly become “Confidently Beautiful.

One major difference is they’ll have Open Castings for the delegates. There will be no more closed-door selection of ladies. All ladies 18-27 with a valid Barbadian passport, who meet the MISS UNIVERSE® requirements, are welcome to enter. No size zero is a must; no 5’9″ or taller, be you white, black or Indian-descent or a mix between? All are welcome to compete!

The Miss Universe® Organization is an international organization that advances and supports opportunities for women. MISS UNIVERSE® is distributed in more than 190 countries worldwide and seen by more than half a billion people annually. The pageant provides a global platform for more than 10,000 women annually through dedicated partnerships with charities, sponsors, brands, franchisees and television networks around the world. Additionally, the organization raises millions of dollars for charities annually.