Brooks Jr is Panograma king

Earl Brooks Jr winner of Instagram pan competition, Panograma.  -
Earl Brooks Jr winner of Instagram pan competition, Panograma. -

EARL BROOKS JR is the winner of the first-ever Panograma title. The online, Instagram pan competition was held over the period April 24 to May 3. The prelims were held on April 24 and 25; the semi-final on April 30 and the final on May 3.

The regional competition was the brainchild of TT pannist Nevin Roach. He came up with the idea to assist his fellow pannists during the covid19 pandemic.

Brooks Jr won the competition with a score of 107.67 points. He played Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

Second and third places were also won by TT pannists Dejean Cain and Kersh Ramsey respectively. Cain played David Rudder’s The Hammer which earned him 106.00 points and Ramsey played Chick Corea’s Spain which earned him 105.33 points.

Roach said, in WhatsApp responses to Newsday, organising and hosting Panograma was no easy task. “Despite a number of hiccups tonight, I am very happy to cross the finish line with this year’s Panograma. My phone is going crazy with congratulatory messages. Panograma will be back next year, bigger and better,” he said.

Kersh Ramsey came third in Panograma. -

A commenter on Roach’s Instagram page said, “Great initiative! Very entertaining. Congratulations to the winner and the other participants.”

Another said, “The young man that played the Hammer...pure perfection. The runs, the trills (sic), he made that tenor pan SING. Thanks for this event…”

From the prelims to the finals, the viewers virtually recreated the setting and feel of a physical event. Some of them pretended to be selling corn soup and drinks.

“The competition was extremely tough tonight,” Roach said of the finals.

“Everyone showed up on inev88 live dressed to impress in outfits relevant to their respective tunes. The music was nothing short of amazing. The judges really had a hard time tonight. Thanks to the main judges David Zige Walcott, Ojay Richards and Kenneth Joseph for their hard work throughout the competition and also to the substitute judges Rodney Small, Andy Chichester and Rikky Robley who were all ready to fill in, if necessary.”

Dejean Cain earned second place in Panograma, playing David Rudder's The Hammer. -

He added that the finals had a maximum viewership of 1,060.

He thanked the event’s sponsors such as Panman Consultants, E-Pan, Pan Trinbago, US Steelband Association and LCA Designs Tobago.

Here are the results from the finals:-

Earl Brooks Jr, TT – 107.67

Dejean Cain, TT –106

Kersh Ramsey, TT – 105.33

Keishuan Julien, TT – 104

Mark Forde, Barbados – 103.67

Kern Sumerville, TT – 103

Hashim Durant, Barbados – 102

Tyeesha Alexander, TT – 95

Amarni Gomes, Antigua –93

Isidore “Dow” York, St Maarten – 92.67

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