The police’s closing of the Carifesta Gospel Celebration held last week Thursday at the National Stadium and accusations of poor management and favoritism on the part of the organisers have become points of controversy.
When police stopped the concert shortly before 1 am on Friday several local artistes were backstage awaiting their turn to perform. These included Kester D, Solid Youth, Trenacia Esseboom, Ruth Osman, Yohan Jackman and Cleon Cadogan.
However, the failure of Kester D to perform has been a source of much discussion. Kester D was slated to be one of the main local acts and it was well publicised that the singer would have been launching his fifth album at the concert. Since then, Kester D has said that he believed some artists were discriminated against and some slated to perform after him on the programme actually ended up appearing on stage before him.
He also said he had heard rumours that he was not allowed to perform because of his criticism of the government for not implementing proper copyright laws. Kester D said to the best of his knowledge such a claim was untrue.
The artist also said that he was not bitter and explained that Pastor Kwame Gilbert, the chairman of the planning committee, had called him after the concert and apologised. He said that further discussions on the matter will be held shortly. This newspaper understands too that a meeting with all the artistes who did not perform is scheduled for this weekend.
Meanwhile, Solid Youth said that although he was initially upset at not being able to perform, his anger has since subsided.
He explained that he had made a lot of sacrifices to prepare for the show, even investing money for a new costume. He said the time given to each artist was poorly managed but he was aware that everyone makes mistakes and that the issue is being settled amicably.
Esseboom said she too believed that the programme was poorly managed. She said she was disappointed and angry, more so since no apology was offered to her. However, she intends to attend the meeting and is looking forward to the matter being settled amicably.
Cadogan, the 2007 winner of the GT&T Song and Jingle competition, performed a duet with René Winter earlier in the night so he was not too disappointed about not being able to do a solo.
In an invited comment, Pastor Gilbert said the only reason why the full roster of artists was not allowed to perform was because the police stopped the show.
He said at the time of the police intervention he outside the stadium making arrangements for overseas artist Nicole Ballosingh and her husband to return to their hotel. Gilbert said that had he been at the stadium he would have sought permission from the President to continue the concert.
He said too that the police could have used their discretion and allowed the church some more time especially since the concert started more than an hour late due to technical difficulties. Gilbert also explained that the organisers were forced to make changes to the programme since two of international artistes were scheduled to leave Guyana early Friday morning and as such they performed earlier than scheduled. He said too that the police had originally told the organisers that the cut-off time for the concert was midnight with an hour’s grace period but in addition to the late start, some of the artists performed much longer than they were scheduled.
Gilbert said that during the Carifesta celebrations, other events went over the stipulated time and they were allowed to continue. Last Saturday, the Polar Ice sponsored super concert which featured international recording artist Akon went way beyond the scheduled time due to the late arrival of the star performer.
Meantime, Gilbert confirmed that a meeting with the artists who did not perform will be held and “the financial commitments made to these performers will be honoured.” Some of the artists had told this newspaper that they hoped that the meeting would address the issue of payment.
