Kohima, May 20: Enthusiastic youths thronged the local ground here, the venue of the Miss Northeast contest, till late last night, as three contestants each from the seven sister states fought for the coveted title. Former Miss India, Yukta Mookhey and choreographer Kelly Dorjee were the star attractions of the evening.
Ilasara D. Kharkongor of Meghalaya was crowned Miss North East 2004. The first runner-up title also went to Meghalaya as Angelica Pearl Nampui charmed the five judges, with Dorjee heading the panel.
Nagaland made it to the first three with Miss Nagaland Sentila Jamir being crowned second runner-up.
Rains, however, played spoilsport. The show, slated to begin at 5 pm, began two hours late.
Abu Mehta, press secretary to the chief minister, anchored the show and made up for the delay with entertaining compering.
Ticket sales were reportedly quite high, even with a Rs 400 price-tag.
One of the hitches at the venue was lack of parking space. Parking on the main road in the capital proved a major problem for the visitors. Along with VIPs galore, the hoi polloi sat through the show till 11.30 pm.
One of the organisers, Beauty and Aesthetics Society of Nagaland, expressed satisfaction over the huge turnout.
The audience, though, recommended a better shamiana for the event in coming years, as inadequate arrangements left them drenched.
Angelica of Meghalaya won both the Miss Perfect Ten as well as Princess titles. Huirem Tanushree Devi from Manipur won both the newly-introduced awards of Best Evening Wear and Best Traditional Wear.
Miss Congeniality title went to R.S. Jasmine of Manipur and Sentila won the Miss Beautiful Skin title.
The state government was the biggest sponsor while several business houses also contributed to making the event a success.