Contestants dazzle at Miss India World Wide Pageant in Suriname February 27, 2012 President Desi Bouterse singing a duet of a popular Bollywood movie song at the Presidential Palace with Miss India Worldwide 2011, the winner of last year's contest. Photo: Office of the President (L-R) Miss India Worldwide 2011, Miss Guyana Alana Seebaran; second runner up Olivia Rose from Australia; Miss Suriname Varsha Ramratan; and first runner up Anvita Sudarshan from Kuwait. Photo: Rene Gompers by Ivan Cairo Caribbean News Now contributor PARAMARIBO, Suriname -- Contestants from Suriname, Guyana, Barbados, Jamaica and French Guiana were among the crowd’s favourites last Thursday night during the Talent Competition of the Miss India World Wide pageant here in Paramaribo. At the week-long event, 35 beauty queens of Indian descent from all over the world were competing for the title of Miss India World Wide 2012. Guyana’s representative and eventual winner Alana Seebaran wowed the audience with an Indian folk dance spiked with modern Bollywood moves, with enthusiastic fellow Guyanese in the stands waving Guyanese flags cheering her on. According to the reaction of the audience, Miss India Barbados Tanha Dil, also did well with her presentation of a popular Bollywood song, while French Guiana’s Wirasha Kasi, almost brought the house down with a stellar performance on stilts. The patrons really enjoyed her act, with the entire hall in an uproar when Miss Jamaica, dressed in traditional maroon tribal clothing, danced to a reggae and dancehall tune. However, the audience’s favourite was definitely Suriname’s contestant, Varsha Ramratan, who performed a classic Indian dance. A setback for the talent event according to patrons was the fact that a number of contestants chose the song Sheela ki jawani from the movie Tees Maar Khan. “This made it very challenging for contestants to do something different, spectacular or special, since others had already performed this song,” said a women dressed in an elegant sari. Numerous attendees noted that the jury, including Bollywood actor Aftab Shivdasani, Surinamese dance teacher Marlene Li A Ling, singer Rai Mohan, make-up artist Sushmita Patel and dance guru Madharie Jagmohan, had a very difficult task selecting Miss India World Wide 2012 during the finals on Saturday. On Friday night the stage was set for the fashion round, with a full house for Saturday’s finals. On Tuesday evening President Desi Bouterse and first lady Ingrid Bouterse-Waldring hosted a dinner for the beauty queens, wishing them a pleasant stay in Suriname and to make the most of it. “Suriname is a special place. Just as we shall be enchanted with your beauty, we trust you too will be enchanted with the beauty of this wonderful land, Suriname -- richly crowned with genuine diversity, not only in terms of nature, but also in peoples, cultures, languages, wonderful cuisine – and especially hospitality. The beauty of Suriname, like yours, is a gift from God… and it is our sincere hope that you will enjoy Suriname’s beauty as much as we shall enjoy yours,” said the head of state. Guyanese Online Blog and Newsletter .