Twenty-one beautiful and talented young ladies from the Sunshine City will be vying for the Miss Teen Portmore crown at the competition's grand coro-nation show at the Portmore HEART Academy tomorrow evening at 7 p.m.

Love Television will be tele-vising the prestigious event live. Love TV is a family orientated station that promotes wholesome family viewing and programmes with good religious and moral standings.

Special guest Jodi-Kaye Royes, the 2007 winner, will crown the new queen. Female DJ, Michelle 'D'Angel' Downer will be a special guest artiste, while a number of other artistes are billed for the show in its fifth year of existence.

The pageant is under the distinguished patronage of Dr Dane Levy, president of the Port-more Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Dr. Rosalie Hamilton, vice-president of the University of Technology and president of the Medium and Small Micro Enter-prise Alliance.

Octavia Waite, chief coordinator of the pageant, said its main aim is to "help the ladies" with their personal development.

The pagaent was also con-ceptualised to provide them with scholarships, especially those young ladies who are accepted for tertiary institutions. The competition also aims to develop their social-interactive skills and enables them to better com-municate with their peers. "We just don't look at the beauty and the talent of the girls we also en-courage them to study and take their education serious," said Waite.

"The main component of this pageant is in the academics. We identify the contestant with the highest grade point and we reward that young lady with the 'Miss Academia award', for excellent work."

The main sponsors of the event are Burger King and Love TV. The executive producers are Ronald Geoffrey Waite and Ransford White. Elaine McMaster and Octavia Waite are associate producers.