WINNING smile and a great attitude helped Alneisha Outerbridge beat off ten other contestants to be crowned Miss Teen Bermuda Islands 2006 on Sunday.

The 14-year-old CedarBridge student sat through a gruelling series of interviews with a panel of six judges in front of an audience of hundreds at the Fairmont Southampton Resort before securing victory.

And the youngest ever holder of the title now looks set to have a busy year ahead of her ? attending official Government functions alongside Cultural Affairs Minister Dale Butler and taking part in annual events such as the Bermuda Day parade.

"What was I feeling when I won? I was happy. Astonished. I couldn't believe it. I won. It was just breathtaking," Alneisha said following her win.

"I was a little nervous because I'm not used to getting up and speaking in front of everyone. But at the same time I was pretty comfortable because, even though not everyone is rooting for you, they still support you.

"No one is perfect at everything but if you have a pretty good idea of what's required to win the pageant then that helps. Sometimes I got distracted but generally I had my mind on the goal of winning it."

Another key to Alneisha's success was the influence of her mother.

"She's definitely a part of me," Alneisha said.

"She's always been beside me, always encouraging me to do my best ? getting me to do something. Rather than just wasting the summertime hanging around with friends or getting into trouble and being mischievous why not find something constructive to do, something that you can learn from and remember for the rest of your life?"

One of the tasks that each of the contenders had to perform was give a presentation on a topic that concerned them. For Alneisha, housing was at the top of the list.

"I spoke on housing because I really do think there is a crisis in Bermuda," she said.

"It's something that affects everybody whether or not you are having your own personal housing crisis ? it affects the whole community and whatever affects the whole community affects each and every one of us. Some people may be able to rise with the prices but not everybody."

Pageant organiser Terry Smith believes the judges made a solid decision in selecting Alneisha.

"Alneisha won because she has a very strong presence, she's very confident and she has a beautiful smile," he said.

"She's very articulate and her attitude was good. She really worked and really wanted to win the title. I think she'll be a very good ambassador, not only for herself but also for her mother and Bermuda's youth and Bermuda as a whole.

"Whoever wins the title is a real role model, not just for teenage girls but teenage boys as well ? hopefully they'll look at Miss Teen Bermuda and learn how to treat young ladies a certain way."

Mr. Smith also pointed out that the six-year-old competition, open to girls between the ages of 13 and 17, is not a "beauty" pageant but instead focuses on behaviour and attitude. The contestants attend regular evening classes in the run-up to the grand finale while the now out-of-fashion "swimsuit" category still favoured by some pageants has been replaced with a fashion parade.

"Our aim is to help young ladies develop their inner selves, to become strong young women," Mr. Smith said.

"We teach them life skills, etiquette, poise, how to stand properly, proper manners when leaving and entering a room. Just basically to separate these young ladies from others who haven't had that sort of training.

"Our biggest obstacle is that a lot of the Bermuda girls want to wait until they're 16 or 17 because they feel that 13 and 14 year olds can't win, and we try and convince parents that 13 year olds can win because they're not being judged as 17 year olds. What you expect from a 13 year old is different."

Once candidates have been selected, they have to complete a rigorous programme of classes in the run-in to the final.

"It's an eight-week training process two nights a week for an hour-and-a-half for the first four weeks and then three nights a week, two hours a night for the final four weeks. That's quite a commitment. The eighth week is like every night and we're very, very busy," Mr. Smith said.

"That just shows that it's really an award-winning process for everyone who completes the programme. We have lots of young ladies who think they might have the typical beauty queen looks but they're unable to go through the process. It's a question of persevering.

"Sometimes you might feel like giving up, sometimes they might be intimidated by the competition ? the look thing ? but there's no perfect body type ? teenagers don't need the pressure of fitting into the "perfect" body type ? it's all about general presentation. We've had plus-size girls who have done very well and won titles. We're not looking for the perfect 36-24-36 model-looking type, it's not a requirement."

What is a requirement is an ability to communicate. Prior to the final, all contestants had personal interviews in front of a panel of six judges.

"Throughout that time she's being judged on her confidence, conversational skills and personality," Mr. Smith said.

"Those interview scores are kept throughout the entire pageant. It's important for us that we have young ladies that have social skills, conversational skills, to mix with people and stimulate conversation.

"On the Sunday they are up on stage doing personal style scene where the contestants can put together an outfit be it eveningwear or casual wear sportswear or whatever and she'll put that together and during this time her academic achievements, school achievements and any extra curricula activities are read out.

"After that it's the evening wear scene where the contestants are escorted by their significant male ? that can be their father, brother, uncle, grandfather, teacher, mentor, minister, doctor ? and they have to explain why they chose that person as their significant male.

"Then we have the judges' questions which are judged on their response to the questions, their general presentation and their confidence. Those scores are added to their personal interview scores and the top five are selected after that.

"Then we have the platform presentation ? you can talk the talk but you have to walk the walk as well. It's very important that our contestants do have something that they want to address. All the girls who make it to the top five have to present a platform and have three minutes to present it. After that they have to answer questions.

"This is a whole new challenge that requires a certain amount of study but this year the young ladies really did their research."