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

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)

Entertainment

A SEA OF YELLOW AT RISE & RUM BREAKFAST PARTY

Patrons enjoyed a day filled with food, fun, and sun at Rise and Rum, the penultimate event of this year’s Barbados Food and Rum Festival.

Food lovers had an abundance of delicious dishes to savour on Saturday—from roasted breadfruit and seafood boils to various fish delicacies and scrumptious desserts, offering a wide array of options to enjoy.
Of course, there was no shortage of entertain, and local bands Square One and Krosfyah once again teamed up to keep the crowds grooving as they enjoyed their savour foodie treats in fine style.

Entertainment

Let us celebrate Jackie Opel

Tuesday 27^th August was a significant day in the history of local music. It marked the birthday of Dalton Bishop better known as Jackie Opel. The musical icon would have turned 84. Jackie Opel was an outstanding singer, composer, and creator of the Spouge music genre who was born on August 27, 1938, in the inner-city area of Chapman Lane.

*Shantal Munroe Knight, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office*

In 1962 Jackie migrated to Jamaica where he lived for six years. He was influential in the formative careers of some of Jamaica’s iconic entertainers. From Bob Marley to Jimmy Cliff, Ken Hopeton, Alton Ellis, and the early days of the band The Wailers.

On his return to Barbados Jackie Opel was gearing up to take his career and his newly created spouge music to a higher level. Plans were afoot to produce a concert, but fate was not kind, and he died in a car accident on Bay Street on March 9, 1970.

Special Free Concert Yesterday

The National Cultural Foundation (NCF) hosted a special concert, last night, in Freedom Park to honour Jackie Opel.

A cast of some of the island’s top singers graced the stage to perform a wide range of spouge songs. The modest audience can count themselves lucky to have attended an event that will be a benchmark in local music history.

Artists thrilled those in attendance

Performers included the following, Wendy Alleyne, Shadia Marshall, Keisha Christian, Mickey Dee, Mike Grosvenor, Colin Spencer, Desmond Weekes, Jamal Slocombe, Simon Pipe, D J Simmons, Bit Bit, Ishiaka, Romario Greaves, Alix Cage, Adrian Clarke and Edwin Yearwood.

Senator the Hon. Shantal Munro-Knight, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office delivered the opening remarks, and Ambassador to CARICOM David Comissiong delivered the feature address. It was generally felt by those in attendance that a Jackie Opel Birthday Concert should be held annually. (Article and photos by Christopher Williams)