Ruënna "Sugar" Mercelina (born January 18, 1992) is a

Dutch Caribbean The Dutch Caribbean (historically known as the Dutch West Indies) are the territories, colonies, and countries, former and current, of the Dutch Empire and the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean Sea. They are in the north and south-wes ...

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

beauty queen A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

and

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. She has appeared on the covers of the ''GO Weekly Magazine'' and ''Dolfijn FM Magazine''. She is the former titleholder of the Miss Caraibes Hibiscus Curaçao and the winner of the Best in Evening Gown category. She is also the former Miss Teenager Curaçao, where she won the Miss Teenager Universe Congeniality Award.

Early life

Ruënna was born in the St. Elizabeth Hospital to parents Ruthsella Mercelina-Troncon and Gwendell Mercelina Sr. She was raised in a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

home. Her brother, Gwendell Mercelina Jr., is four years older and is a media personality and politician in Curaçao, an international

youth ambassador A youth ambassador is a young agent, representative and/or steward for the charity for which they work.Anaphylaxis CampaignYouth Ambassadors/ref> Youth ambassadors have been introduced in order to promote participation, or spread goodwill or knowle ...

, and the former Youth Parliament President of Curaçao. Mercelina attended Johan van Walbeeck Kindergarten and Elementary School, and then the

Albert Schweitzer Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was an Alsatian-German/French polymath. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. A Lutheran minister, Schweit ...

High School. She completed her Marketing and public Relations degree at the College of the Dutch Caribbean and is now majoring at the

University of Curaçao The Dr. Moises Frumencio da Costa Gomez University of Curaçao, formerly University of The Netherlands Antilles (UNA; nl, Universiteit van de Nederlandse Antillen), is the state university of Curaçao. It is a public university, graduating appro ...

in Education.

Career

Modeling & pageantry

At 12 years old she was discovered by local agent Mrs. Emilka Eustachia from A2Z Models and started modeling while attending school. Later she participated in the Miss Curaçao Teenager pageant and fashion shows of the former Curaçao Beauty Organization of Mr. Aubrey America. She also worked in the organization's Model Image division as a model instructor for children and pre-teens. In her first beauty pageant she won the titles of Miss Curaçao Teenager Talent, Most Beautiful Legs, and Miss Internet, and was given the title of Miss Kitatin (Kitalin being the most popular Dutch Caribbean online media community). At the Miss Ecstasy International in

Anguilla Anguilla ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The terr ...

she won the Miss Personality award, and won the Miss Caribbean Talented Teen in St. Kitts and Nevis. She has appeared on the covers of magazines such as ''4 You-th'' and has featured in advertising campaigns for companies such as Albert Heijn, Fun Miles, Maduro & Curiel's Bank (MCB) and Post Spaarbank. In 2008 Mercelina won the title of Miss Teenager Curaçao 2008. In Guatemala, the Minister of Culture called her the Ebony Goddess. She became the Miss University & College of the Dutch Caribbean in 2010 and represented the university in the national colleges and high schools competition during Carnival season in the national Teen King & Queen election. In 2010 Mercelina was a finalist for

Miss Caraïbes Hibiscus Miss Caraïbes Hibiscus is an annual international beauty contest for all countries of the Caribbean and the Americas. It was founded in 1990 in the French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to ...

. In 2011 Mercelina was voted Miss Teenager Congeniality at the 2011 staging of Miss Teenager. In 2013 Mercelina was selected as Curaçao's Tourism Queen 2013, and was also the one who inducted the 2013 Curaçao's Grand Carnival Parades. As an ambassador to the island of Curaçao, she served in neighbor island Aruba together with Venezuelan celebrities

Leonardo Villalobos José Leonardo Villalobos Alvarado (born September 7, 1970) also known as Leonardo Villalobos is a Venezuelan actor, and television personality known for hosting the shows '' Portada's'' from 2005 until 2009, and '' Súper Sábado Sensacional'' fro ...

of "

Super Sabado Sensacional Super may refer to: Computing * SUPER (computer program), or Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer, a video converter / player * Super (computer science), a keyword in object-oriented programming languages * Super key (keyboard butto ...

" and actress Carolina Perpetuo, as judge for the Aruba's 59th Carnival Queen and 19th Mrs. Carnival Queen. In 2013 she was also voted National Carnival Queen and was the first person to win seven out of the eight titles in the National Carnival Queen Election.

Curaçao International Film Festival Rotterdam

Ruënna served as hostess of the First Inaugural ''Curaçao International Film Festival Rotterdam''. The first film festival of such magnitude and scope that ever took place on Curaçao. More than 25 films and 11 'shorts' were screened in the new six-screen multiplex theater The Cinemas, located in the Otrobanda district of Willemstad, over a four-day period (was held from March 29 to April 1, 2012.)

Acting

She played the lead role In the comedy "Gainan Fini" as a female writer who transforms into a homosexual man to write a book of the "gay community" life. She is also an actress in the international production company Endemol's Dutch Caribbean youth soap-series "''Ki bo Ke Men?''" (What do you mean?). In 2012 she played ''"Tisha"''. the lead role of a fifteen-year-old girl who must choose whether to go through an unplanned pregnancy. The play, which was aimed to teens in the Dutch Caribbean and the Dutch Kingdom, explores issues such as tradition, sexual morality and personal choice. The play was written by Albert Schoobaar, who also wrote "Deconstruction of Edsel K.". Tisha was produced by Teatro KadaKen. The play ran from March to November 2012 at the youth theatre "La Tentashon" in

Willemstad, Curaçao Willemstad ( , ; ; en, William Town, italic=yes) is the capital city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was the capital of the Netherlands Antilles prior ...

Philanthropy

On August 12, 2010, Ruënna Mercelina co-founded the WE LEAD Foundation, where she acts as an ambassador. The foundation aims to develop leadership and nation-building skills.

References

External links

Sugar Official Website

Sugar Official Facebook Page

Official Agent

Miss Caraïbes Hibiscus Curacao Facebook

Miss Caraïbes Hibiscus Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercelina, Ruenna 1992 births Curaçao beauty pageant winners Living people 21st-century Dutch actresses 21st-century beauty pageant contestants People from Willemstad Dutch film actresses Dutch female models Dutch television actresses Dutch women television personalities Dutch public relations people Curaçao entertainers