The countdown to the Miss Pacific Islands 2019 crowning night has begun with Miss Samoa revealing she is contestant number 12.

Fonoifafo Nancy McFarland revealed her number in a post on the Miss Pacific Islands Facebook page, and added that the topic she chose for the contestants’ pre-interviews on Thursday is tourism.

She has also asked her followers on Facebook to vote for her on the Miss Pacific Islands Facebook page as online voting began early in the week. Followers can click on the like or reaction button of their favourite contestant. 

The contestant with the most likes or reactions will win the Bmobile Miss People’s Choice Award with the voting closing at 12 noon (4.00pm Samoan Time) this Saturday.

The Miss Pacific Islands programme kicked off on Sunday, November 24 with a church service held at the Vabukori Mahuru Gaudi Memorial Church on the outskirts of Port Moresby, which coincided with celebrations to mark 150 years since Christianity was introduced to Papua New Guinea’s Papua region by the London Missionary Society. 

A welcome dinner for the contestants was then held at the iconic Apec Haus, in the PNG capital Port Moresby with the PNG Prime Minister, James Marape the guest of honor of the evening.

The contestants also had the chance to spend a night at the recently refurbished Loloata Private Island Resort – which is a sister hotel of Samoa’s Taumeasina Island Resort – where they had a buffett and rehearsed for the cultural evening and crowning night.

They were welcomed to the resort by a traditional dance group from Tubusereia village, whose children performers impressed the visitors before an early start the next day with a photo shoot at the resort jetty. 

The other contestants in this year’s pageant include: Epifania Petelo (Miss American Samoa); Terito-o-Ngakura Story (Miss Cook Islands); Jessica Margaret Rose Fong (Miss Fiji); Billma Peter (Miss Marshall Islands); Millenia Eidibea Finch (Miss Nauru); Lucy Maino (Miss Papua New Guinea); Gladys Habu (Miss Solomon Islands); Herevai Hoata (Miss Tahiti); Yehenara Soukop (Miss Tonga); Tapuan Vavale Pasuna (Miss Tuvalu); and Viol’ene Blondel (Miss Wallis and Futuna).

The theme for the 2019 Miss Pacific Islands pageant is “Pacific We Are, One Step, One Aspiration”. The programme will culminate with the crowning ball at the Stanley Hotel & Suites this Saturday, November 30 at 7.00pm (11.00pm Samoa Time).