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Since arriving in Las Vegas ten days ago, Celeste Marshall has cemented her billing as a favorite for the title of Miss Universe 2012, thanks in no small part to the help of generous local and international sponsors who have outfitted her for the competition of a lifetime.<\/p>\n
A $12,000 couture Eduardo de las Casas evening gown; two kaftans designed by celebrity favorite Camilla of Australia; a pair of newly released Fendi sunglasses; and a $5000 smile… all part of the arsenal that Miss Universe Bahamas Celeste Marshall has taken to Las Vegas, Nevada in her quest to become the first Bahamian woman to become a finalist (and ultimately the winner) of the Miss Universe competition. The statuesque beauty has been preparing for months for her moment in the spotlight, and she has received a lot of help along the way from a long list of sponsors.<\/p>\n
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Topping the list is the Ashley Lauren Kerr group, consisting of designer Eduardo de las Casas, pageant coach Grace Fontecha, make-up artist\/instructor Noel Garcia, and stylist Ashley Lauren. The group\u2019s contribution to her preparations exceeded the $30,000 mark, and included two couture evening gowns; 2 weeks of private lessons with Guinness World Records recognized pageant coach Fontecha; make-up application and hair styling lessons; fashion tips; and a two week all-inclusive stay at a beach front home in Maine during her training. Kerr believes the investment was worth it. \u201cCeleste’s beauty combined with her training can take her to the top,\u201d she says. \u201cI hope that is in her destiny because she has worked very hard preparing and I know she wants it; not only for herself, but for the Bahamas too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Much of the support for Celeste came from here at home. Those who generously gave included:<\/p>\n
Diamonds International \u2013 Fine Jewelry
\nBahamas Orthodontic Center \u2013 Braces\/Teeth whitening
\nEscape Boutique at The Cove \u2013 Assorted clothing and accessories
\nColes of Nassau \u2013 Camilla of Australia kaftan, Jovani dress
\nWedded Bliss \u2013 Evening gown
\nBTC \u2013 Iphone & data plan
\nMBO \u2013 Assorted clothing and shoes
\nThe Luggage Store
\nBoojie Bijoux \u2013 Costume Jewelry
\nImperial Optical \u2013 Fendi sunglasses
\nThe Shoe Village \u2013 Assorted shoes
\nAll Yours Remy Hair \u2013 Hair products
\nEye Candy Make-up Store \u2013 Cosmetics
\nObsession \u2013 Assorted clothing
\nLorene\u2019s \u2013 Sleepwear
\nLa Casita \u2013 Camari designer sisal\/straw clutch (auction gift)
\nNassau Gals \u2013 Assorted clothing
\nSolomon\u2019s Mines – watches
\nCia Monet \u2013 Herve Leger dresses
\nD-Factor \u2013 Hair styling services
\nNail Taxi Bahamas \u2013 Manicure\/Pedicure
\nThe Pilates Studio at Atlantis \u2013 Pilates classes<\/p>\n
Celeste also received private donations from the Thompson, Marshall, Dames, and Williams families. Her national costume – which MBO officials describe as a very modern take on an era of Bahamian history \u2013 depicts a swashbuckling buccaneer and will be unveiled in Las Vegas during the Miss Universe national costume event on December 14th. The preliminary competition is scheduled for December 13th. Both will be streamed live via the internet at www.missuniverse.com.<\/p>\n
Celeste\u2019s popularity has spread worldwide, securing her a spot among the pageant\u2019s pre arrival favorites – thanks in no small part to the well-oiled PR machine known as the DS3 group headed by PJ Douglas Sands. The group recently partnered with the Miss Bahamas Organization to handle the branding of its queens and its social media outreach. DS3 was the mastermind behind the popular \u201cfollow the crown\u201d vlogs which have chronicled Celeste\u2019s journey to the Miss Universe pageant for a growing number of followers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 on\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 facebook,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 twitter,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 instagram,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 tumblr,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 her\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 own\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 personal\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 website diradiocast.com\/dinmn\/celestem242\/.<\/p>\n
The Miss Universe Pageant will be broadcast live on NBC on December 19th at 8 p.m. The Miss Universe Organization is once again allowing the public to choose one of its semi-finalists via online voting from now until the voting closes on December 18 and 6p.m.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anyone located in, and a legal resident of, the Bahamas can cast their vote(s) for Celeste by logging onto www.missuniverse.com or telemundo.com, and following the instructions to vote and enter registration details. To register you will need to provide your email address, confirm you are 16 years of age or older, and confirm your acceptance of the voting terms and conditions. After you register, you should rank Celeste as a \u201c10\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If done correctly, you will get a message on your screen. You can vote up to 10 times per e-mail address per day. Voting is free. The results may be revealed to the home viewing audience during the live telecast and may be posted on www.missuniverse.com after the show.<\/p>\n
Submitted by The Miss Bahamas Organization<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Top Photo: Celeste Marshall 3rd from right<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Since arriving in Las Vegas ten days ago, Celeste Marshall has cemented her billing as a favorite for the Miss Universe 2012 title, thanks in no small part to a $50,000 package from her sponsors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[48,298],"class_list":["post-29280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-style","tag-beauty","tag-pageants"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29280\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}