Carnival TV to the Rescue - Steelpan on the Internet for Trinidad Carnival 2013

2013 Panorama Finals: back on the Internet

Global - Trinidad and Tobago has a beautiful and unique carnival. Trinidad and Tobago also has no shortage of bureaucracy and bacchanal surrounding its annual event. There are issues associated with the carnival that just leave one’s head shaking. An over-abundance of organizations, (governmental, private and otherwise) with all kinds of call letters from the alphabet (have your pick - ANA, ABA, etc., etc., etc.) that each apparently have a hand in every aspect of the carnival festivities. But moreover, they have no reputations that can be damaged.

As the world saw first-hand a few weeks ago during the national steel orchestra Panorama Semi-finals competition, when these organizations bump heads, less than desirable—or, far less than professional standards and conditions—become activated. In short, global embarrassment or a severe case of ‘the emperor has no clothes on.’ The results were no Pan on the internet or locally broadcast. What can be worse than an unscheduled reality visit by a ship of fools?

However, for the 2013 Panorama Finals and again for the Champs of Steel Plus concert, Carnival TV delivered uninterrupted free video streams of the events to the world. For the finals, Etienne Charles provided insightful musical opinions and Hans des Vignes has improved. And in any regard if you didn’t like either of the hosts you could simply shut off the audio and listen to the other available radio audio internet streams. The key here is that Carnival TV delivered continuous video streams.

Of course there are many of you who just rolled your eyes and screamed “Hell no!” - “What happened to the Soca Monarch stream?” Well in the land of technology unexpected things do sometimes happen. And in the land of Pan everybody knows that anything that comes on stage first or before you, is called a ‘sound check.’ So from the perspective of the steelpan music and Panorama fans, the Soca Monarch event was a testing op for the Panorama Finals. As Iwer George could sing next year - “everybody on the Facebook want to know, wha’ happen to the Soca Monarch stream...?  Well, ah go tell dem, tell dem.” Many of you Soca Monarch fans may fail to see the humor in this. And maybe you shouldn’t. We are confident that Carnival TV can give you an official reason for what transpired, or didn’t, in regards to the Soca Monarch stream.

In any regard, after all, the world steelpan community suffered during the 2013 steelband panorama semi-finals competition - the Pan community deserves a break. Thank you Carnival TV.

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Click for WST’s Trinidad and Tobago Panorama 2013 coverage