Mom, son take South King, Queen titles

It has been a wonderful year for the family, said newly crowned South Carnival King Marlon Rampersad. His mother, popular mas designer, Gloria Dallsingh also copped the South Carnival Queen title.

The mother and son of Cleghorn Village in Princes Town competed in the annual competition held on Tuesday night at Port of Spain. Rampersad portrayed D Midas Touch while his mother, Gem of the Ocean. The mother and son are from the band Elixir of Life (Kallicharan Carnival).

Describing his mother’s portrayal, Rampersad said, Gem of the Ocean depicts an oyster nestled in the sea. Inside the oyster is a pearl. Due to financial woes, organisers from the San Fernando City Corporation cancelled the pre-Dimanche Gras show where the South Kings and Queens are normally crowned at Skinner Park, San Fernando. As such, the show was subsumed in the National Carnival Commission (NCC) preliminaries at Queen’s Park Savannah.

The mother and son were not the only family members who paraded before judges in Port of Spain.

Rampersad’s wife Laura wooed the judges with her portrayal of Your Worth is More Than Rubies for the band Elixir of Life. She placed second to mother-in-law Dallsingh.

“Our seven-year-old son Antonio Rampersad is a finalist in the Junior Carnival with his portrayal of the African Drum Dancer.

He has been playing mas from 11 months old and this is his third year in the Junior Kings category.

Carnival is in his blood,” Rampersad said.