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

Spirit of the Nation this weekend November 16

Entertainment

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

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)