| Subject: Gabrielle Walcott- The People's Choice |
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Date Posted: Monday, March 10, 06:33:27pm
Author Host/IP: c-68-80-75-150.hsd1.pa.comcast.net/68.80.75.150
Gabrielle Walcott- The People's Choice
By Cedriann J Martin
Saturday, March 8th 2008
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Google Gabrielle Walcott and the first couple tidbits you'd find won't have anything to do with her being the new Miss Trinidad and Tobago/World.
For example you'd learn that she was a set artist on the 2005 MTV series, "Real World/Road Rules0 Challenge". And that she was on camera as a waitress and behind-the-scenes as wardrobe supervisor in the 2006 action flick, "Backlash". Or that four years ago she was the female lead in a Hype Williams-directed video, Rupee's "Tempted to Touch".
The 23-year old is so consumed with the prospect of a creative career that she followed up her Visual Arts and Theatre degree at the University of the West Indies with post graduate studies at the Herbert Berghof Studio in New York.
The "intimate, quirky" school was created by theatre artists more than five decades ago to provide rigorous, hands-on training in the Performing Arts. It had the lagniappe effect of preparing Gabrielle for the whirlwind, week-long Miss T&T screening and selection.
On-air camera classes. Public speaking. Movement. Speech. Even backstage breathing exercises. Those came in handy a fortnight ago at Zen.
"You focus on being centred, not being distracted by everything going on around you. Some people pray. Some people meditate. I do both along with lots of breathing. Just before I went onstage I just said 'it's in God's hands. I've done all the preparation'," she said.
Miss World 2008 in October won't be her first pageant experience. Gabrielle represented Trinidad and Tobago at a Miss Hawaiian Tropic pageant in Las Vegas two years ago.
"It kind of gave me a feel for what will happen in Ukraine," she said. "The thing that stood out most for me was the experience of meeting different girls from different cultures."
She debunked the idea that the com petitive nature of beauty pageants makes bonding impossible. In fact, Gabrielle admitted that ""the most difficult part" of the Miss T&T experience was seeing the disappointment of other hopefuls at the end of the night.
"Each girl wanted it but I had to remind myself that God has a plan for everyone. This was my time and I haven't robbed anyone else of an opportunity. It was just about who was more prepared and whose personality fit which pageant. Their time will come or even greater things are in store for them," she said. She's particularly excited about having earned the most text votes for People's Choice.
Gabrielle grew up in Petit Valley. She has two sisters and one brother. Her parents, she raved, have been married for a quarter century. She mentions the dog, cat and the two parrots that live on the pommerac tree outside her window for good measure.
She's an animal and nature lover. She rode horses competitively when she was younger and it remains one of her passions. Over the years she's taken in no fewer than twenty lost or abandoned dogs.
"We genuinely love animals in my house," she said. The past pupil of Providence Girls' and UWI sixth form revealed that there was never a question in her mind about pursuing a creative career.
"I've always been painting and drawing. When CXC came around I used to be up at four o' clock in the morning, not able to put down the paint brush. For me not to have done something creative with my talent would have been a sin. I couldn't imagine myself doing a nine-to-five. I need to be very creative and hands-on."
Apart from her stint as a beauty ambassador she'd like to travel and study some more. Ultimately, though, Gabrielle wants to live in and contribute to T&T.Â
"I want to get involved with something like Arts in Action," she said. "I haven't exactly figured out the logistics yet but I strongly feel that we have so much talent that is completely overlooked. It's important for someone to nurture and showcase that. The most important resource in any country is its people."
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