Braneka Bassette
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The Freeport News - Twenty-year-old Bahamian bombshell
Braneka Bassette is no stranger to the runway or the camera and has
international exposure as a model and actor in Los Angeles but, she
readily admits that going after the coveted Miss Bahamas title is a
challenge. The five-foot, nine-and-ahalf inch beauty was sought out
by creator Oswald Ellis of Star Model Management, a pageant recruitment
agency which solicits young women to enter into pageants and represent
the country.
Only two years old, Star Model Management has committed
to working closely with Miss Bahamas Organization Chairman Michelle
Malcolm and her team, Ellis said, to ensure that Grand Bahama also has
a representative in the Miss Bahamas Contest even if a pageant was not
held in the nation’s second city. “Miss Bahamas has recruitment
and selection process where they would interview the girls in person
and, based on their criteria, decide if she qualifies. In the case of
a girl from Grand Bahama that we push toward entering, it is not that
difficult to be selected because we have already done a screening process
ourselves to make sure that this girl is of the right calibre to move
on to the Miss Bahamas stage,” explained Ellis.
Bassette was selected by the agency
after another recruit’s schedule conflicted with the pageant dates.
Ellis said, it took a whole lot of leg work to reach Bassette, who lives
in Los Angeles and a whole lot of finger crossing, but their perseverance
paid off. “We’re trying to give her all of the tools not to make
her Miss Bahamas but the next Miss Universe,” he revealed. Weighing
in at 122 lbs, with dimensions of 32-23-34, Bassette said, she was surprised
that Ellis thought of her, adding that she had never considered being
in a pageant before now. “I always would look at it and question if
I could do that. I model and they say modelling and pageantry are two
totally different worlds, so I looked at it as something that I would
never do,” she said. After talking it over with her mother and carrying
out some online research of previous pageants, Bassette said, they decided
to make a go at it.
“Pageantry these days is not a
program but about finding a beautiful woman to represent her country
and have her go on to represent the world. So I thought if I could be
myself and represent my country and go on to one day represent the world
and even the universe that would be an amazing experience.” Realizing
that modelling and acting does not occur overnight and with the many
things that she aspires to do for The Bahamas, Bassette believes there
are more opportunities for her to accomplish them as Miss Bahamas. “I
want to open modelling camps and do things for the youth because I feel
like empowering our youth and teaching them about the value of hard
work. Kids these days don’t know the value about hard work anymore
and have totally lost that concept because now everything is Facebook
and Myspace and hanging out,” the passionate 20-year-old goddess said.
“That is my main goal. I feel like by being Miss Bahamas I can reach
them (young people) quicker and sooner than modelling and acting would
afford me right now.”
Bassette, who appeared on The Janice
Dickinson Modeling Agency show which originally debut on Oxygen, said
it was a life changing experience as it allows Bahamians to see that
there is a girl out there representing them. “Every time my name would
come up on the screen, they knew that I was out there still representing
and I still knew where I came from,” she said. “I am glad
that I have that under my belt and I am very proud of what I have accomplished
so far.” Bassette, who also appeared in a number of commercials
is now leaning to more theatrical roles. However, she
decided to give up a movie roll
to enter the pageant as the dates were conflicting. “I decided to
let the movie roll go to be in the pageant because I have surprisingly,
grown a passion for this,” she
said. Bassette was picked among
19 girls earlier this month during the first selection process and said
she is excited to be in the pageant which is only weeks away because
when she puts her mind to something she works hard at it to ensure she
is successful.
Bassette still has a few commitments
in LA and flies back and forth to fulfil them, but she is slowly trying
to wean off her active schedule to be in Grand Bahama more often. “Even
though I have never competed in a pageant I have watched them.
Now that I’m starting to learn more about it, really it’s not about
how you walk or how you can speak, if you are just yourself and you
just have fun with it and, you know you believe you can win then you
can. “I don’t think that not being in a pageant before would affect
me at all because I am a confident person and I feel once you carry
yourself with confidence and you believe you can win then everyone else
will believe you can win.”
The Grand Bahama native schooled
at Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic School before relocating to Florida
for the next half of her life. She later moved to Georgia for about
a year before she decided to get into modeling. Aside from modeling
and acting, she is the host of a talent website called TingEm at www.tingem.com.
“Some investors came to me with the idea of a talent website that
they wanted to be like Youtube, but solely for talent. They wanted to
come up with a name and they could not think of one and I wanted this
website to be a great avenue for Bahamians to get themselves on the
map,” she explained. After she and her mom came up with Ting
Em, a word synonymous to Bahamians, Bassette told the investors and
that’s how the website was born.
“I got them to create a contest
section for The Bahamas and I really want Bahamians to use this website
to get themselves on the map because when I come here I always see someone
who has
amazing talent — singers, actors,
dancers rapper,” she said. “It’s so much unseen talent here, we
have so many talented people here it is insane that we don’t have
that more people on the map. Barbados has Rihanna and I think it’s
just time for us to take over Hollywood.”
The website is reaching its six-month
mark. “I want people use this website. If you want to sing
in your closet or do a runway walk
down the hallway of your house or however you can put yourself on this
website, before it gets big in America I want it to get big here so
that when everyone else starts coming onto the website Bahamians are
already there” she said. “It has buzz in the U.S., so before it
gets too much buzz there I want Bahamians to take it over so that when
it does get big we are already there and people can see we have talent.
People go to Youtube to find talent and I want them to come to tingem
to find Bahamian talent,” the Miss Bahamas hopeful said.
While in Freeport this trip, Braneka
was able to have a consultation with fashion designer Craven Forbes
and she will model a designer gown from his 2010 collection. Her
wardrobe he said will be available for a preview as the pageant nears.
According to Ellis, there are other
contestants from Grand Bahama in the pageant and while he is not sure
who they are, he is hoping for them to do well also. “I’m not saying
I’m hoping for them to win, because my loyalty is to Braneka ... but
if Braneka is not meant to be the winner, I would still want the winner
to hail from Grand Bahama,” said Ellis.
Article SOURCE
Submitted by Oswald Ellis
