Rio Claro East Sec wins Entertainment Intercol

Rio Claro East Secondary has won the inaugural Asten Isaac Entertainment Intercol (AIEI) secondary schools talent competition.

The school achieved the feat last Sunday, at the Centre of Excellence in Macoya before a packed audience. With $1.2 million in cash and prizes, including the coveted prize of a 24-seater maxi up for grabs, secondary school students mobilised their talents and brought their A game.

Founder of the programme Asten Isaac said, “As a performer, I saw the need to comprehensively develop and nurture our young talent, and hence AIEI.”

Twenty-one schools participated in the finals. Prizes will be distributed in September.

Other than the 99-minute-late start, the competition was high energy from beginning to end. The show and online voting ended at 11.55 pm.

The competition challenged students not only to showcase their talents but also to adopt a comprehensive approach to entertainment as a business.

The full-production show started at approximately 9.30 am, with Tobago schools Mason Hall Secondary, Speyside Secondary and Scarborough Secondary presenting all of their acts. They immediately left the venue to return to Tobago.

Schools competing for the bus had to accumulate the most points through online voting, finals performance and labels from Oladoye water. Some schools also qualified to win a $50,000 bonus for meeting quota requirements.

The show ended with scintillating large group performances. Four schools had steelbands, while others had choirs and dance groups, all of which gave more life to the 15-hour long show. Notably absent from the competition was a parang band.

Judging the competition in the individual vocalist and instrumentalist categories were Adafiah Padmore, Bruce Roberts, Denise Pritchard, Paul Massy and Lusha Antonie.

In the groups and novelty acts categories, Roxanne De Souza, Cherry Ann Alves-Bravo, Thabiti
, Richie Regis and Dr Juliet Jones were the judges.

Tabulators were Trisha Layne and assistant judge Judy Noel. Chief adjudicator was Josephine Torrel-Brown.

Other schools in the finals were: Matura Secondary, North Eastern College, Holy Cross College, Bishop Anstey East & Trinity College East (BATCE), Five Rivers Secondary, San Juan South Secondary, Queen’s Royal College, Pleasantville Secondary, Fyzabad Anglician Secondary, Holy Faith Convent and Penal, Union Claxton Bay.

Entertainment Intercol Results:

Individual Vocalist

1st: Amy Dwarika - Five Rivers Secondary

2nd: Adriana John - Rio Claro East Secondary

3rd: Makala Fernandez - Fyzabad Anglican

Individual Musician

1st: Isaac Patterson - BATCE

2nd: Shakerron Nicholas - Rio Claro East Secondary

3rd: Mekhi DeVerteuil - Fyzabad Anglican

Novelty Act

1st: Ronaldo Lewis - North Eastern College

2nd: Malachi Huskerson - QRC

3rd: Prince Cato - North Eastern College

Small Group

1st: San Juan South Rhythm Section - San Juan South Secondary School

2nd: San Juan South Cultural Org - San Juan South Secondary School

3rd: Soca To D World - North Eastern College

Large Group

1st: San Juan South Cultural Org - San Juan South Secondary School

2nd: Rio Steel - Rio Claro East Secondary

3rd: Holy Cross Steel - Holy Cross College