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Tents gearing up to face the judges

At the tent judging draw from left: Sharon Carew-White of C.O. Williams House of Soca, Juliana Sealy of Carter’s Shining Stars, Jerry Roberts of Stray Cats, Eleanor Rice of Payce Digital/COB Credit Union All Stars and Jennah Parris of First Citizen/Digicel De Big Show. Missing was a representative of Super Gladiators.

The road to the Courtesy Garage Pic O De Crop Finals intensifies from next Saturday, July 9. That’s when the first of the six calypso tents will face the Pic-O-De-Crop judges for a chance to make it to the finals of the ultimate kaiso battle at Kensington Oval on Friday, July 29.

Seventeen finalists will compete with reigning 2019 Monarch Classic for a chance to walk away $100,000 or a fully-loaded Nissan Leaf thanks to Courtesy Garage.

At the tent judging draw from left: Sharon Carew-White of C.O. Williams House of Soca, Juliana Sealy of Carter’s Shining Stars, Jerry Roberts of Stray Cats, Eleanor Rice of Payce Digital/COB Credit Union All Stars and Jennah Parris of First Citizen/Digicel De Big Show. Missing was a representative of Super Gladiators.

The National Cultural Foundation’s Chief Executive Officer Carol Roberts-Reifer thanked Courtesy Garage for coming on board again this year.

“We sincerely thank our corporate partner Courtesy Garage for again coming on board and investing in the Festival and by extension the kaiso art-form. It’s always a pleasure to work with the team at Courtesy. We encourage Barbadians to come out and support the tents and then take that same energy to Kensington Oval on July 29 for the Pic-O-De-Crop Finals” Roberts-Reifer said.

The first tent to face the judges will be Super Gladiators on Saturday, July 9 at the Barbados Museum, The Garrison, St Michael. They will be followed by Payce Digital/COB Credit Union All Stars on Sunday, July 10.

Next up is C.O. Williams House of Soca who will face the judges on Wednesday, July 13 while the following night, Thursday, July 14, will be Stray Cats’ turn. First Citizen/Digicel De Big Show will be judged on Friday, July 15.

On Sunday, July 17, Carter’s Shining Stars will be the last tent to judge. At that time, the names of the 17 Finalists, to face Classic, will be announced after the judges deliberate.

When the Pic O De Crop registration closed on Monday, June 6, there were 90-plus calypsonians who had registered.

Music Officer Kevin Moore stated that the NCF is looking forward to staging another exciting Finals.

“The National Cultural Foundation is elated to be able to produce the Pic-O-De-Crop Competition after a two-year hiatus, due to the global pandemic. This year’s competition promises to be yet another exciting one, with many artistes indicating their intention to compete through their various tents. We expect the same quality music that we have grown accustom to on Finals night,” he said.

Patrons desirous of taking in some tent action and any other event for this Crop Over Festival can log on to:

  • NCF Barbados on Facebook and Instagram
  • Lovecropvoer.bb on Instagram
  • Barbados Crop Over Festival on Facebook and;
  • www.ncf.bb

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Spirit of the Nation this weekend November 16

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The Richard Stoute Contest Finals Tomorrow November 9 & 10th

The Richard Stoute Contest 2024, co-produced by the National Cultural Foundation, has reached the final turn of the race. Twenty eager competitors are now preparing for the finals of the Over 21 and Teen Talent categories.

The ten Over 21 finalists are Alicia Alleyne, Zoe Armstrong, Kimberly Allen, Shaquan Smith, Amirah Cordice, Shaneka George, Jaleesa Greaves, Jacqueline Stoute, Lisa Hackett and Kenyah Joseph. The ten Teen Talent finalists are Kadarius Allen, Joshua Osbourne, Kayla Alleyne, Jasmine Walkes, Kyrique Alleyne, ZZ Cumberbatch, Kymani Devonish,Roneisha Alleyne, Joshua Osbourne, Jaliah Thompson, and Kenaz Walker.

Simply by making it to this point in the competition, these competitors join a special class of Barbadian entertainers, all of whom experienced the training and development that comes with taking the Richard Stoute stage. Since its inception in 1976, the Richard Stoute Contest has given birth to several Barbadian musical favourites. One of these is 1983 winner of the competition Edwin Yearwood who was referred to then as “the baby of the competition” by journalist Linda Deane. Singing Wildflower and You Are So Beautiful, a tribute to his mum, he won the seventh teen talent competition, beating AndersonArmstrong and Terencia “TC” Coward who would both later become his contemporaries in the soca arena. In a 1983 article about the contest, Linda Deane referred to the three as “the ones with the better chances of success”. TC would place second in that competition. Just three years later, in 1986, now global soca queen Alison Hinds was also a finalist in the Richard Stoute Contest.

Fast forward to the 90’s and many popular names in the Crop Over arena were singing and winning the transformative competition. In its sixteenth year, a twenty-year-old Adrian”AC” Clarke sang his way to the crown with his rendition of Jackie Opel’s Higher and Higher (his first time singing spouge) and Calypso Traveller. The very next year, his future Coalishun bandmate Rupert “Rupee” Clarke won the crown at just eighteen years of age. His winning songs were Frankie Paul’s “Sarah” and Stevie Wonder’s “Lately”, earning him a standing ovation in the Wildey Gymnasium along with a red Suzuki Swift, driving lessons from Cox Driving School and a trip to a Caribbean island of his choice. The 90’S would also see Barbadian balladist Betty B win the 1998 contest while performing artiste Ishiaka McNeil took the1999 crown.

The start of the new millennium was not without its future household names as Barry Chandler, who sang Vehicle and Wildflower(in tribute to his own mother and single mothers) amidst a standing ovation in George Street Auditorium, sang his way to the crown in the year 2000.

There are several more names throughout the years including popular band Spice & Company and 2024 Courtesy Garage Pic O De Crop contenders Darin Holder, Trinity Clarke and Shontae Alleyne-Clarke. Undoubtedly there isevidence that the environment of the Richard Stoute Contest breeds exceptional talent. Speaking about the competition in the year 2000 Barry Chandler spoke about Founder Richard Stoute saying “He not only taught me how to sing my songs properly, he taught me discipline, and I want to thank him for that”.

In a recently held press conference at The National Cultural Foundation NCF Music Officer assigned to the contest, Aisha Butcher, assured Barbadians the NCF will continue to uphold Richard’s legacy and standards while introducing innovations. These innovations include state-of-the art equipment, additional vocal coaches and a separate competition for the Over 21 age group. “We were happy to see that registration doubled this year [for the Over 21 age group] and the quality is on par with prior competitions”, Butcher stated.

The National Cultural Foundation has also introduced The Richard Stoute Award and The Spouge Award as part of their strengthened approach this year. The Richard Stoute Contest 2024 Finals will take place, tomorrow, Saturday November 9th (Over 21s) and Sunday November 10th (Teens) at The Derrick Smith School

and Vocational Centre

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Sagicor Life Inc. Lighting Ceremony This Friday

The Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment will host the Sagicor Life Inc. Lighting Ceremony this Friday, November 1, marking the start of the annual community Independence celebrations.

This year’s ceremony will be held under the theme Celebrating Our Communities: Re-engaging, Re-igniting, Re-imagining, and will take place on Friday, November 1, at 5:30 p.m., at National Heroes Square, The City.

Following the Lighting Ceremony, the celebrations will continue with a Bajan Brew at 7:00 p.m., offering an evening filled with spouge, drama, song, and steel pan performances.

The event is free and open to all, providing an opportunity for the community to come together and enjoy the rich cultural heritage of Barbados as we celebrate Independence. 

Patrons are encouraged to arrive early and make any necessary transportation arrangements due to expected road closures in the vicinity of Wharf Road and Trafalgar Street. (PR/GIS)

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