April 11, 2005 – The first event of Carnival 2005 drew hundreds of spectators to watch the selection of a new prince and princess. Six couples competed Sunday afternoon at the Lionel Roberts Stadium.
When it was over couple No. 6, Amari Raymo and Deja'Nique Navarro wore the crowns. Both children are 9 years old. They tied in several categories with couple No. 5, Rekiera Corneiro and Andre Joseph, including: talent, evening wear and the question and answer segment. Corneiro and Joseph captured the crowd's approval, though many in the audience raised their cheers for couple No.3, Denesha Henry and Jahquanee Turbe.
When the announcement came from emcee Irvin "Brownie" Brown, couple No. 3 was given third place and named second runner up. Every other category was split between the two front runners. Raymo and Navarro were named Most Cooperative, Corneiro and Joseph won Most Photogenic.
The tension lasted up until the last second when Brown named couple No. 5 as the first runner up.
Because of changes in the Carnival schedule this year the crowning of the new royalty took place as soon as the contest was over. Prince and Princess 2004, Hosea Ottley and Nysha Lindo, did the honors.
After it was over and the winners had settled down in the peacock chairs placed on stage, they both smiled and said they were glad they had won.
Deja'nique said the fact that she and Prince Amari had tied with their closest competitor in so many categories didn't make her worry.
She said she knew in the end they would win.
Three other couples, Elvaniece Huggins and Cecil Freeman Jr, Je'Quan Joseph and Marlyka Williams, and J'Koy Leycock and Radiant Toussaint did their part to keep the crowd entertained throughout the five-hour event.
Tumblers, a baton twirler, two sets of Limbo dancers, a genie on a flying carpet and two snorkelers in a kiddie pool entertained the audience. The show also included skating numbers, dancing and acrobatics, singing — some out of key — and a dancing donkey named Oprah.