The All Stars 15 stepped out to impress the judges during preliminary judging at the Gymnasium of the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex on Thursday night.
They put their best forward to capture the full score: melody and lyrics 35 points each; rendition and arrangement 15 points each.
Tent members are always classy in their presentation. Contestants, band members, back-up singers and emcees stood out for their sartorial elegance and flair. There was also no shortage of giveaways to the audience.
Emcees were very generous with encores on the fancy of a few who called for “more, more” from the floor.
Donnella doing Behind Closed Doors, Romancia with Tears For Africa, Jude Clarke performing We Drifting, Sammy G rendering We Gathering – a cheeky play on the title, Colin Spencer’s Singing For Jesus and Imara singing Maggie Soup were well received. Queen Kareen with My Condolences (to the country where pride and industry is dead) also stood out.
These were strong in all categories; a nice marriage with arrangements and melodies. They deserved their encores.
Donella’s Behind Closed Doors painted a picture of a woman with “make-up and hair always in place, a pleasant smile always on your face . . . but if people knew all the hurt you have to go through . . . . You pretend to have it together . . . when you get home you are all alone behind closed doors.”
Romancia’s Tears For Africa used Burkina Faso as a chant to connect with her African roots. A nice arrangement enhanced with an infectious drumming.
Jude’s delivery of We Drifting, although with the now familiar lines of a broken society, was poetically top of the shelf and rendered well.
That Imara’s Maggie Soup had to be explained by the emcee was a weakness of the song. Her soup’s “ingredients” – time, patience and respect – could train up the youth. A nice arrangement though.
Queen Kareen can sing but her rendition crescendoed and bordered on shouting.
Colin Spencer unnerved one of his fans when there was a slight pause before he started to sing. The supporter put his hands in the air and exclaimed: “He fuh getting his words already.” However, the kaiso veteran went on to deliver biting lyrics about his reluctance to “write this song”, but “the situation in the country would make anybody seek Christ . . . . The crime rate keeps escalating, got everyone living in fear”.
Jahdiel has a pleasant vocal tone, but his rendition of School Boy Plea and the arrangement did not gel. Niqa’s We Business was an indictment on the tourism sector as a modern day plantation was well rendered, while Sammy Dello’s Mental Block mirrored a familiar writing technique which speaks of memory fog. He also was afraid he would end up on a mental block”.
Bumba’s Likes And Dislikes also addressed social problems but focusing them as his personal taste was not impactful.
Charisma’s I Fuhget was a socio-political/economic commentary on issues being overlooked, while Darin Holder’s rendition of Coming Fuh King resembled an extract from a burlesque show. He was not stingy with his theatrics.
Teri’s AI was a reasonable effort. She played on the acronym to comment on socio-political issues. Some references came over as throwaway lines, however.
Russell Oliver Richard Antonio brought the night to the close with Yuh Guilty, an indictment on parents and politicians, and called for a taking back of “our country from these wicked vagabonds [who] don’t care ‘bout you or me”. (JS)
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