Interviews by Sara Bharrat and photos by Jules Gibson
This week we asked the man/woman in the street if they have been following the GT&T Jingle Competition and who their favorite competitor was?
L. Smith, vendor:
‘I’ve heard a lot about the GT&T Jingle Competition but I have no time to follow it. I am a vendor and I spend most of my day selling out on the road so I don’t get to look at the television and listen to the radio. But I’ve heard several people speak about the jingles and they seem really excited about it. The competition is giving young people a lot of opportunities to expand themselves and I think it was a very good idea to start it in thefirst place.’
Terry De Freitas, Public Sector Employee:
‘Actually I do have a favourite competitor in the GT&T Jingle Competition. I am a fan of Pheona Da Silva. She can really sing and I love her voice. I hope she makes this competition her stepping stone and that she moves on to better thing to show the world especially young people her talent. I’ve followed the competition from the start. Actually my sister was in the competition. I think this competition has a lot more talent on display as opposed to the one in 2007. I also think that the fact that they have more competitors this time around only brings a wider variety of entertainment to Guyanese.’
Delon Moffett, Student:
‘Kwesi Cox is my favourite contestant. I like his singing and he’s a student of my old school so I’ve been following the competition to support him. It’s not like I’ve been following every show. Whatever happens to be on tv at the time is what I watch. I don’t think the competition is as popular as it used to me. I think that’s because people have gotten used to it. They changed it a bit by adding the judges and having the jingle competitors sing songs from different genres but they still needed to spice things up some more. If I were an organizer I would’ve seen to it better judges were available. I don’t think they are qualified to be critics in a music competition.’
Tedroy Tyrrell, Legal Clerk:
‘I like this chap from Essequibo, Adrian Brandt. This year’s competition has been bigger and more organized. I like the fact that they have more competitors and I don’t find it tedious. In fact it was a brilliant move to have 25 semi-finalists instead of 5 because it gives more people a chance to compete and display their talent. In the last competition when you had only five semi-finalists it was easy to guess which three would make the finals but now you’re literally guessing. The judges I think need to be fairer in this competition and this time around the competition has a lot of Guyanese, a lot of Caribbean flavour.’
Shawna Scott, Student:
‘I’ve been following the jingles on tv and have been enjoying it. I plan to attend the finals on Thursday with my family. Kwesi Cox is my favourite competitor and I definitely think the competition is better this year. The new image that they’d given the competition is definitely better. Instead of listening to the competitors sing their jingle we get to hear them attempt different types of music. I think that was a good way of teaching us the strong and weak points of their voices and better enjoy their singing. For the judges I like this guy Sean Bhola who is really a replacement judge. He’s the best.’
Devon Scott, Student:
‘So far for the whole jingle competition the auditions were the best part for me. Even though a lot of people went there and made fools of themselves they still tried and it shows a different part of the Guyanese personality. The GT&T Jingle Competition is a refreshing change from those local copycat shows that tried to imitate international hits like America’s Got Talent. The jingle competition has some amount of originality and I appreciate that. People have been using the sound tracks of other songs and editing the lyrics and I think that’s very creative. This whole thing shows that Guyana does have some talent and it gives young people a constructive forum to express themselves and gives older people a common ground on which to meet and associate with the youths.’
Aneesha Pickett, Legal Clerk:
‘Renee Chester is most definitely my favourite competitor in the GT&T Jingle Competition. I sing as a hobby and I appreciate Renee’s voice. I’ve been listening to most of the singers and they don’t sound bad at all but I think the competition needs a little more originality. They should be adding their own flavour to it. I really believe the competitors should be writing and singing their own songs instead of editing and singing songs of popular artistes. Copying should not be an option.’
Justin Alleyne, TCL Service Representative:
‘I haven’t been following the competition too closely. But I believe that the GT&T Jingle Competition is helping people to display their musical talent. I trust as they go along this path they will remember that music is a key thing that can help to disseminate messages through out society. That message can either be positive or negative and I hope that these competitors understand why it’s important to make sure it’s a positive message they’ll be sending out to those persons listening. I don’t have a favourite competitor but some of the jingles sound promising.’
Sonya Goring, UG Student:
‘GT&T has provided a good opportunity for people by creating their jingle competition. I haven’t been following the competition and I don’t even know the names of any of the competitors. I’ve been wrapped up in my own world recently and I don’t think the competition is as popular as most people think.’
Tisheena Amsterdam, Student:
‘Yes, I have been following the jingle competition and A. Hicks, competitor number ten is my favourite. I don’t know her personally but I love how she sings and presents herself on stage. The semi-finals have been a little long because there are so many semi-finalists but I’m enjoying it and look forward to the finals.’