For immediate release JY&A Media

Christchurch's Laural Barrett wins Miss Universe New Zealand 2007

Auckland, April 1 (JY&A Media)Christchurch's Laural Barrett, Miss The Edge Christchurch, won Miss Universe New Zealand 2007 at the Langham Hotel, Auckland, last night.

Miss Barrett will go to Miss Universe 2007 in Mexico City, and takes home prizes with a value of NZ$25,000.
Sylvia Laurenson (Miss Boulgaris.com) and Jessica Body (Miss Asta Club & Lounge) were first and second runners-up.

Speaking after the show, judge Jack Yan, publisher of Lucire, says that he and his fellow judges were mostly in agreement with the top 10 contestants.

'Judging was difficult. When tallied, we are talking about half-points determining whether a girl got a prize or not. Even the top 10 got in by very small margins,' he says.

Mr Yan says the judging process was strict and was scrutinized. 'Each judge was not initially permitted to discuss their preferences, for fear of swaying the others. It was only in the deliberations that the winners began emerging, and to our surprise we had a dozen common names which we thought would go into the final five.'

He also says that an earlier judging session last Thursday, between 6.30 p.m. and midnight, gave the judges a chance to interview each contestant in great depth.

Miss Barrett will appear in a photo shoot for Lucire, the pageant's official fashion magazine, as part of her prize.

The judges were May Davis (runner-up, Miss South Africa 1973), Hilary Timmins, Megan Alatini, Yvonne Brownlie (managing director, Look Good Feel Better charity) and Jack Yan (Lucire). Pageant director Val Lott had worked tirelessly coordinating the pageant, media, and judging.

Miss Barrett's twin sister, Sharaine, was runner-up in Miss Universe New Zealand 2006.

Some media coverage of the event appears in some media Sunday during the week. Mr Yan's Persuader blog (jackyan.com/blog) details more of the behind-the-scenes judging process.

Ends