Ronnie and Caro, K2K take top honours

RONNIE and Caro and K2K Alliance and Partners have taken this year’s top honours as large and medium band of the year respectively. Tribal Connection Cultural Promotion won small band of the year with its 2018 presentation Call of D Tribes.

The mini, small, medium and large bands of the year were announced yesterday at the National Carnival Commission’s (NCC) VIP Lounge, Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain.

Ronnie and Caro’s Life’s Checkered Board grabbed the top title while The Lost Tribe’s Seven placed second, followed by Paparazzi Carnival’s Nomadik Nation.

Ronnie and Caro got 1,275 points while second-place Lost Tribe got 1,245 points. Nomadik Nation got 1,204 points.

Ronnie and Caro also won Downtown large band of the year in the band’s fifth win downtown.

K2K’s Alliance and Partners’ We stand United won first place in the medium band category with 1,270 points. Republic Bank Exodus Steel Orchestra’s The Eyes of God, a collaboration with legendary masman Peter Minshall, placed second with a score of 1,235 points. Jus Wee and Friends’ Wee Take Flight placed third with 1,198 points.

Ronnie and Caro completed a hat-trick with this year’s win, while K2K grabbed their fourth title in a row.

Ronnie McIntosh told Newsday, “A lot of members came out early to cross the stage. We did cross the stage quite early. It is a great feeling and the masqueraders will appreciate that because they really enjoy that whole competing aspect.

“Our masqueraders love to win. So we will be celebrating this one with them also.”

Similarly, Kathy Norman, one of the twins behind K2K, said they were so “thankful and grateful” that they maintained their position as medium band champions. The band won both uptown and downtown medium band of the year. She added, “We could not do it without our masqueraders, because without them there is no us.”

NCC’s (uptown) mini band of the year went to the The Original Jab Jabs’ Spirit of D Whip. Simply Cultural’s We Claiming We Space got second place and Rhapsody’s in Blue Blue Madda Dan Dem got third place in the mini band of the year category.

Downtown, small band of the year went to Belmont Exotic Stylish Sailors’ Masters of the Art while mini band of the year went to The Original Jab Jabs’ Spirit of D Whip. Les Grandes Masques won junior large band of the year.