Strong winds, poor lighting during Kings, Queens prelims

HIGH winds and poor lighting were the major obstacles which confronted masqueraders at the NCC's senior King and Queen of the Band preliminaries on Thursday at the Queen’s Park Savannah.

The show ran smoothly and finished in five and a half hours, with 40 queens and 38 kings crossing the stage.

A few masqueraders were directly affected by the winds, with Debbie Aguilera Sammy’s Caribbean Market Woman and Allison Emma John’s Beauty in D Bacchanal Madam Koselle, toppling over and having to be carried off.

The moko jumbies were also affected, with some visibly battling the wind, including Shynel Brizan’s Asase Asomando and Glen De Souza’s Gran Voleur.

Other masqueraders could be seen visibly struggling to pilot their large costumes across the stage, such as Ted Eustace’s Dracotaur – Lord of the Under Seas and Nadine Popplewell’s A Bouquet for La Reine Helen.

The costumes were poorly lit for most of the show, especially when the masqueraders came onstage. This especially affected viewers watching the show from home, but was also a complaint of those present in the stands at the Savannah. Details of the costumes could not be seen until the masqueraders were almost directly in front of the judges.

In some cases, people wondered whether that specific lighting was meant for that costume, due to the length of time it spent in the poor lighting.

What was also interesting was the use of non-conventional materials to build some of the costumes. Worthy of mention are Victoria Garcia’s The Jelly Fish and Juness Garcia’s Mermaid Sitting on A Clam in Maracas Bay, both of which were partially made of crochet.

Davis’ Mystical Warrior Queen was made of carrot leaves, cocoyea sticks, brown cotton, water bottles, papier mache, cardboard and canes.

Some costumes used sound effects and special lighting as part of the dramatic effects, such as Clyde Blaize’s Tears of Montserrat Soufriere Hills and Ruth Adams Mendez’s Whimsical Sky Dancer, which used volcanic eruption sounds and fireworks explosions respectively.

Most performers chose recently crowned Young King Mical Teja's red-hot favourite DNA, and the song Runaway as their background music, with Nadia Batson’s Market and Kes’ Miracle also featuring in some presentations.

Some performers used songs specific to their presentation, such as Red Plastic Bag’s Volcano in Clyde Blaize’s Tears of Montserrat Soufriere Hills and Jacqueline Collins-Taylor’s Ma Jackie – The Market Queen.

In some cases, masqueraders were so happy to be onstage they had to be gently nudged off by the announcers.

The top 20 queens and kings will move forward to the semi-finals, scheduled for February 6.

The top 20 queens:

Dana Rampersad – Flight of the Monarch Butterfly

Roxanne Omala – Queen Tarantula

Savitri Holassie – Azalea the Serpent Sorceress

Nadine Popplewell – A Bouquet for La Reine Helen

Elizabeth Lucas – Dance Annie Dance, A Tribute to Tourist Annie

Turona Rambharose Mora – Water is Life

Rosemary Parris – Call of the Safari

Takeya Fletcher-Marshall – The Dream Capture

Peola Marchan – African Monarch Butterfly

Laura Rampersad – Princess Takara

Priya Nagassar – Mother Nature – Beauty of Nature

Maria Davis – Mystical Warrior Queen

Marie Eligon – Mama Glo

Shynel Brizan – Asase Asomando

Ruth Adams Mendez – Whimsical Sky Dancer

Alendra Bailey – Amahle – Beautiful One

Cheryl Keel – Queen Nefertiti

Aiesha Blaize – A Mantis Stalking Its Prey; Shelly Watson - Colibria Sacred Bird of the Chaima; and Joanne Thompson – Mother Africa.

The top 20 kings:

Ravi Lakhan – Zeus – King of Gods

Joseph Lewis – Xhirkomak – Lord of The Underworld

Fareid Carvalho – Axtapas

Marlon Rampersad – Spirit of Panthera Leo

Ted Eustace - Dracotaur – Lord of the Under Seas

Arif Grantum – Guardian of the Mystical Realm

Russell Grant – Boson Jumbie

Raymond Mark – Spirit Dance – Celebrating the Ancestors, A Tribute to Ella Andell

Clyde Blaize – Tears of Montserrat Soufriere Hills

Christopher Saldenha – Unarmed Blue Lyrics Master

Daniel Bascombe – Magician of Zinguinchor

Glen De Souza – Gran Voleur

Franklyn Jagdeo – Rhythm of the Fire

Tekel Kidale Sylvan – San Felipe Segundo

Roopnarine Rampersad – Vulcan, Commander of the Red Fire Dragons

Adrian Young – Masquerade of Traditions

Joel Roney John – We Dey in De Mas

Erron Sookdeo – Wind – The Raw Power of Nature

Earl Beckles – The Spirit of the Pan

Keston Benthum – Zanshim – The Age of Awareness The Samurai’s Quest.