2011 saw some highs on the local entertainment scene as well as some real lows. The GT&T Jingle and Song Competition immediately comes to mind when we think of the highpoints. While one of the real lows was the fiasco involving Guyana’s entrant to the Miss World 2011 competition, who never made it to London because of poor arrangements by the organisers of the local competition.
The GT&T competition, which for the first time this year had a Bollywood segment that is still to be concluded, drew out some of Guyana’s best voices, several of which were previously not well known publicly. While the win deservedly went to Brandon Harding, Guyana will not forget the thrilling voices of schoolgirl Calais Peterkin, or Poonam Singh, Esther Osborne, Nikeshia Alexander, Jenelle Pierre – all hitherto basically unknown. We get the feeling life will never be the same again for them.
The competition also introduced Guyana to several others who were so bad, they must have been tone deaf to have entered in the first place. Or perhaps they were there for laughs. Whatever. Guyana was entertained.
When the Miss Guyana World Pageant was announced, the names of those on the local committee raised eyebrows. These were not people with pageant savvy. But then neither is the franchise holder – though he has muddled along over the years. Guyana gave them the benefit of the doubt and lo and behold, there were several missteps followed by the giant slam dunk – a queen with no visa stuck in the USA while the pageant went on in the UK. How embarrassing! The committee has however made an about face and Ms Artie Cameron will have the opportunity to represent Guyana in 2012 instead.
Other pageants – Miss Guyana Universe, Miss Guyana Talented Teen, Miss Guyana India and Miss Jamzone – were successfully held as well as several others.
Singer and songwriter Rudy Grant launched his soft rock tribute to US philanthropist and icon Oprah Winfrey, “Like Oprah” only to have it buried by local DJs and radio announcers amid a pile of untruths. Several other local artistes including Timeka Marshall and those from the Kross Kolor studios put out new music as well.
The Guyana Music Teachers Association successfully staged its annual concert ‘Musicians on Stage’ and the Guyana Festival of Music Arts was held over 5 days in May with huge emphasis on classical music and stellar performances by groups and individual acts.
Outstanding poetry abounded at the Upscale’s Poetry Nights, with local poets reading to full houses.
Link Show 27, which some said was like a damp squib, Text Me, Obeah in Court, Classique dance shows, the National Dance Company, Naya Zamana and Nothing to Laugh About were among the many productions gracing the stage of the National Cultural Centre.
Barbados-based Guyanese food writer and blogger Cynthia Nelson launched her book: Tastes Like Home: My Caribbean Cookbook.
Sonia Noel pulled off yet another successful Guyana Fashion Weekend in the midst of having her hands in several other pies including the Elite Model Agency local search which saw a Guyanese competing in the international leg in…
The Mighty Rebel, tired of being slighted, quit competitive calypso singing, citing shabby treatment by the state controlled television station NCN.
Mashramani was the usual festival of disorganization with events starting late, and with the usual crush along Church Street and Irving Street that makes viewing the floats almost impossible.
Finally, there were just too many foreign artistes in concert here in 2011 and quite a few did not offer value for money. That said however, we would like to crown the Beres Hammond ‘Moment in Time’ concert as the best for the year, maybe even longer. We would hope that bearing in mind the Kartel debacle, promoters would opt for fewer concerts in 2012 but with the calibre of ‘Moment in Time’, which was compliments of GT&T. Happy New Year, all!
