Antigua & Barbuda Panorama 2023 Results - Victory for Hells Gate Steel Orchestra and Khan Cordice

RESULTS

Antigua & Barbuda, W.I. - And the wins keep rolling in. For Hells Gate Steel Orchestra and its resident champion arranger Khan “KC” Cordice, triumph was the result once more in the national Panorama. Hard work, dedication, musical skills and more all were in play on August 5 for this winning team; it has been the case for the last four consecutive competitions. To date, Hells Gate and Cordice have chalked up twenty-two and nine titles, respectively.

Seven challengers all had their turn in trying to dethrone the reigning champions, and there was a lot of musical energy to be released via sticks on steel after four years of no Panorama in the twin-island country, starting with COVID-19. On this evening, Pan lovers did have a bit of a wait. The 8:00 p.m. advertised event turned into a 9:40 p.m. start with West Side Symphony’s energetic performance of Claudette Peters’ Stressless - making for delightful letting off of musical steam in the process.

An on-and-off drizzle and a couple brief showers did not stop the crowd from moving to the sound of their respective favorites as they took the stage. Panache, Halcyon and Ebonites followed in that order. Halcyon had the honor of “Redding” – the veteran performer of their selection Up And Jumping – on stage with them as flag waver.

With the latter the rain saw the umbrellas opening up even as pan patrons kept their spots stage front. As Ebonites’ presentation of Roaming wrapped by 11:24 p.m. it also marked the half-way point with four more bands to go. Unfortunately for those taking in the show via live stream courtesy ABS TV, there was a ‘fall out’ in audio for the entire performance of Ebonites. A similar issue at the start with West Side Symphony was brought under control shortly into that band’s performance. Of course, those present at the ARG (Antigua Recreation Grounds) had the full benefit of the live performances, and were not affected in these specific instances.

Hells Gate was fifth on stage, and like Panache Steel Orchestra before them, performed with seventy-five members. It appears there was a rule change which reduced the maximum from one hundred to seventy-five, while the minimum allowed was fifty. Hells Gate is one of the bands in Antigua which has no issue fielding one hundred players, so this ‘development’ is of interest.

Another occurrence was the playing of bands’ respective tunes of choice—for a period of time—after they had vacated the stage. Customarily, the selection of the upcoming competitor is heard soon after the preceding band ends. What transpired most times on this night was the reverse, with the audience hearing the next selection only when that band was fully set up. In fact, some of the bands stood ready to go, and it was then their ‘tune’ was heard. This added time to an event which already began late.

For the past several years, Panoramas have utilized the services of five, or seven judges, with high and low scores thrown out, etc. - all in an appearance for more ‘balanced’ results. There were only three judges for the 2023 Panorama on this night - Rodney Small, David “Ziggy” Walcott and Andre Forde.

And finally, for a very long time in Trinidad and Tobago’s Panoramas, multiple still photographers littered the performances of bands, especially on Final night. Some would go deep into the steel orchestras during competition appearing clearly on camera themselves; some would even venture on stage directly in front the bands. While this has been minimized in recent years in Trinidad and Tobago, for some reason, still photographers became part of the ‘scenery’ this year in Antigua.

Overall, event organizers of the Antigua and Barbuda Panorama clearly have work to do for the 2024 season. Thankfully, the steel orchestras themselves generally ‘show up and show out’ - giving it their best on the night after the players have diligently practiced for weeks at a time.

Harmonites, Original and Gemonites steel orchestras rounded out the competition around 1:41 a.m. Original Steel Orchestra opted for arguably one of the more popular songs of the night, Nat U by Claudette Peters. The band of seventy definitely brought the spirit of Panorama with their presentation, and eventually placed second.

Results were delivered fairly quickly, at 2:10 a.m. Only the top three positions were announced, and these without scores. After weeks of preparation for Panorama, one might consider if the remaining five bands wonder about their placements, especially the younger generation who generally made up the bulk of the steelpan musicians in the various orchestras...

The ABS broadcast was helmed by co-presenters Alex Nicholas and Kuma Rodney who kept the content informative, and relevant.

Following are the results, where provided:

(Click for original LIVE STREAM)

Panorama images source:  YouTube screen grabs

**  Order of Appearance in competition

Related content:

• Antigua & Barbuda 2023 Panorama Live stream
• Antigua & Barbuda 2023 Order of Appearance
• Antigua & Barbuda Panorama 2019 Results
• Antigua & Barbuda Panorama Champions
• The Story of Pan in Antigua
• A brief history on Antigua’s Oldest Steelband, Hells Gate Steel Orchestra

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