Entertainment

Voting starts in Round Two of People’s Choice

Voting in the second round of The Student Revolving Loan Fund and Sunshine Snacks People’s Choice Competition in association with Banks started yesterday July 16 and ends Wednesday, July 20.

Voters simply have to go to www.votencf.bb, go to voter registration, sign up, enter your email address for validation then click the link and vote. Remember to check your spam folder for the email notification. If you have signed up but have not decided who to vote for as yet you can log in at a later date and vote for your favourite song of the season

The Student Revolving Loan Fund and Sunshine Snacks People’s Choice Competition was launched on Friday, June 10 and Entertainers Association of Barbados (EAB) and the Barbados Association of Creatives and Artistes (BACA) publicly endorsed the Competition and encouraged their members to participate.

Amid concerns expressed by some artistes since the announcement of the Top 40 songs, both groups have reiterated their endorsement of the voting process.

EAB president Rudy Maloney and BACA president Sean ‘Apache’ Carter, say they stand by the voting process.

“I am aware of some of the issues arising out of the first round of the voting in the NCF’s People’s Choice competition. Actually, some of our members would have reached out to me. The NCF has been completely cooperative and open and engaging throughout the entire process of the competition.

He continued: “We were engaged about the idea initially. We endorsed it. We were there at the launch again and we endorsed it. We were made aware by some of our members of possible concerns. We reached out to the NCF and were invited to a meeting where in that meeting the IT professionals responsible who were able to walk us through the backend of the website and the validation process used, given that voters were allowed one vote per device.

“We are quite comfortable with the list of the Top 40 after the vote validation,” he said.

Likewise, EAB’s Maloney said the voting process was “fair” and said he was looking forward to an “exciting second round”.

“The Entertainment Association of Barbados believes that the judging process for the People’s Choice was a fair process. Any invalid votes were detected and deleted. Some people will be unhappy that they did not make it, that is par for course and part of life. The judging process is fair and we look forward to having a very exciting event at Soca Rukshun where the top 20 artistes emerging from this second round of voting will join the line-up for the event [1] ,” Maloney said.

The NCF stated that those with concerns should refer to the rules and raise all concerns formally with the appointed Arbiter.

The Top 20 from Round Two, will perform live at Courtesy and 98.1 The One Soca Rukshun on July 31^st at Kensington Oval. (PR)

Entertainment

National Disability Unit’s First Movie Night Is March 8

As part of activities to celebrate the Month of the Disabled 2025, the National Disabilities Unit (NDU) will host its first Movie Night for the year, this Saturday, March 8, at its grounds at ‘Maxwelton’, Lower Collymore Rock, St. Michael.

Two movies, “Jungle Cruise” and “Inside Out 2”, will be featured under the stars, with the first expected to begin at 6:30 p.m.

Admission is free and persons are encouraged to bring their chairs and blankets. The movie night will end at 9:00 p.m.

One Community: United in Action for an Inclusive and Sustainable Future is the theme for the month. The aim is to encourage communities to actively include people with disabilities in all aspects of life and to actively ensure that they are fully integrated and considered in all aspects of building a sustainable society.

Entertainment

B’DOS INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL BEGINS JANUARY 29TH

The 9th Barbados Independent Film Festival (BIFF) promises an unforgettable experience, showcasing 60 films from 20 countries over five days. Festival Director De Carla Applewhaite announced the theme, “Global Cinema,” during Monday’s media launch, highlighting the festival’s growth and its dedication to promoting Barbadian and international talent.

Applewhaite said, “”The Barbados Independent Film Festival this year has received over 350 entries. Ten from Barbados, 11 from Turkey, one from Estonia, ten from Canada, four from Trinidad and Tobago, Nigeria, Suriname, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, France, Russian Federation, Islamic Republic of Iran, Palestine, Hong Kong, Sierra Leone, Egypt, Bermuda and Curacao [have entered]. This year’s theme has defined itself as ‘Global Cinema’ as we feature work from literally around the world.”

She noted that this year’s festival was the largest yet since its inception, with 60 films scheduled to be shown over the course of five days from January 29th till February 2nd.
The festival will open on January 29 with a red carpet event at the Barbados Museum and wrap up on February 2 with the short-film showcase, Shorts On The Beach, at Southern Palms Hotel.
The festival will also spotlight The Roads We Travel, a short film by Barbados-born filmmaker Mary Cecilia Walker