Prime-time stage for Trinidad and Tobago dancehall acts at Magnum Xplosion

Local dancehall/Trinibad acts will be featured onstage at prime time during a concert with regional headline acts. Magnum Tonic Wine will host its annual Xplosion event, dubbed Summer Stage TT by the local promotion team of Purple Robe Entertainment and Ultimate Promotions.

TT-based acts Rheon Elbourne, Tech Sounds, Squid, Sackie and Lady Lava will all appear and perform when the crowd is at its maximum, instead of just opening for the foreign acts and performing before an early audience, as has traditionally been the case in the past, Overtime Media said in a media release.

The Magnum Xplosion SummerStage takes place at the Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain, on August 19

Keisha "Lady Lava" Harris is elated at the new dynamic being explored and hopes this will be established as the standard going forward.

"We're gonna try it and see how it works and I'm hoping it sways in the direction of this becoming the new norm to give the local artistes a good spotlight and position on shows happening in their respective countries," Harris told Overtime Media. "A lot of our artistes are appreciated in this way already in other countries, so it makes sense for us to honour and appreciate our own in this way also and should help to motivate the artistes to give their best on stage.

"I will definitely be coming to deliver a high-energy, highly interactive performance," she said, "and I want to thank the Magnum and SummerStage teams and organisers for supporting dancehall and for giving us the chance to shine alongside the Jamaican stars we all admire and love."

Stage manager Wendell Naipaul said, "The organisers really want to give inspiration and commendation to the local acts also due to growing prominence and global success of the Trinibad movement.

"In all my years of working at these shows I've never seen our local acts put on at prime time, so this will be a first and hopefully set a new trend and standard for shows going forward. Magnum has really invested in this industry in a meaningful way and they continue to create opportunities for young talented individuals to grow and experience success and development in their careers. I must commend the team and the brand behind this initiative for changing the status quo and really giving the young people a fair and proper chance to shine."

After weeks of intense competition, Arima-based singer/songwriter Ola "Kesi" Tempro emerged as the winner of the $10,000 cash prize, along with a trip to Jamaica to record with Romeich Entertainment and a performance slot on the SummerStage on Saturday night.

"I'm elated," she gushed after the finals. "I've been doing music since primary school days. I've done calypso, soca, I touched reggae...everything! But I just keep pushing, I was resilient and I keep pushing and the night before the deadline, I asked my sister if I should enter and she said yes, give it a try. I sent in my entry at midnight and that was it. I was hopeful to get in and now I'm grateful and I thank Magnum and SummerStage for the opportunity. I'm representing for TT now... and will be taking dancehall, Trinibad, all over the world."

Keeping true to this Xplosion's theme of Celebrating Dancehall, current dancehall sensations, Skeng, Teejay, Jada Kingdom, Jahshii and the 2023 Magnum Top Performa, Jubba are all scheduled to arrive today and will treat patrons to an incredible night of musical prowess on Saturday.

Regional marketing manager of Magnum Tonic Wine Kamal Powell stressed the importance of creating opportunities for up-and-coming talent.

“Since its inception, Magnum Xplosion has been one of the major events that we use to promote dancehall music and culture to the wider Caribbean," he said. "The reception to Magnum Xplosion has always been great, but as the first staging since the covid19 pandemic, the excitement and buzz surrounding the event has been really amazing."

Leading up to the event, the Magnum team activated a series of roadshows every Friday, which began on July 14. These featured a mixture of live entertainment and giveaways, giving customers the chance to win Magnum merchandise, as well as tickets to Magnum Xplosion.

“Over the years, Magnum Xplosion has allowed us to expand our reach to more Caribbean territories and has provided avenues through which we can engage our customers."

Added Powell, "This year, we’re hoping to build on those relationships, giving back to our loyal customers and providing world-class entertainment from our dancehall artistes.”

For the top three local Spotlight winners, third-placed Jayden "Jza King," second-placed, Jevaughn "Khid" Smith and especially the champion, Ola "Kesi" Tempro, this is "a dream come true.

"It was stiff competition because we have so much talent in TT," Tempro admitted. "These youths are really talented and I want to say to everyone still: if you have a dream, don't give up. It does take years sometimes, it could be 100 days and then just one day – on the 101st day – that's the time your dream could come true. Doh give up. Doh study nobody. If your heart and your mind telling you it, that's it."