used to pick the winner.

Mr. Phil Perinchief, lawyer for the disappointed contestants, believes scores from the Miss Tourism section of the pageant were probably added on to the final score, giving controversial winner Miss Dianna Mitchell a narrow victory overall.

Just two points behind was Miss Carol-Ann Williams, sponsored by Mr.

Perinchief.

This would mean the two tourism judges played a part in the scoring, as well as the five main judges, Mr. Perinchief believes.

Mr. Perinchief revealed his theory yesterday, the deadline he had given for pageant organiser Mr. Terry Smith to resign or face possible court action.

He said Mr. Smith had apologised for any humiliation unknowingly caused to contestants.

But he had refused to resign and had ignored requests to reveal the scoring system. He had also refused to comment on the role of his partner, Mr. Henry Campbell, in the computing of the scores.

"They seem to have something to hide,'' said Mr. Perinchief. "Our view is that we have no problem with them publishing the entire results over all of the scoring segments, so both the public and the contestants will see their performance.

"If the tourism segment is excluded altogether, can they truthfully say that Dianna would have been the eventual winner? "It's a grey area and they refuse to come back and tell us.'' Mr. Smith last night made a statement through his lawyer, Sen. Jerome Dill, confirming that all five Miss Bermuda Islands judges have now signed certificates saying "as far as they were aware, the contest was judged fairly and in accordance with the rules''.

He added: "I now hope that this matter will be put to rest.'' But Mr.

Perinchief immediately pointed out that seven judges could now be involved, counting the two Miss Tourism judges.

One of the tourism judges, hotel representative Mr. Anthony Santucci, could not be contacted last night.

The other, the Hon. Maxwell Burgess, said: "Anyone who wants to find out how the scores were arrived at should ask the organisers.'' Mr. Smith and Sen. Dill have so far declined to be drawn into a public debate with Mr. Perinchief.

From the start of the controversy over Miss Mitchell's selection, they have refused to make the scores public, saying this would be a "break with tradition''.

Mr. Perinchief is now asking the contestants if they want to take court action against Mr. Smith.

Controversy over the pageant flared up after an allegedly poor stage performance by 24-year-old Miss Mitchell, an insurance underwriter. Organisers defended the result by saying scores from earlier interviews counted towards the result.

TV viewers will get a chance to see the show tonight on ZBM channel 7.