Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - The eighth edition of the
Talent Expression competition, organised by the
Southern Marines Steelband Foundation is heading
for a wonderful climax at the Grand Final on
Saturday 22nd November 2008 beginning at 8:00 pm
at the Southern Marines Pan Palais, Southern
Main Road, Marabella in Trinidad.
Thirteen contestants moved forward from a field
of twenty-four in the semi final round held on
Saturday 8th November, before an enthusiastic
audience which included leading cultural figures
like legendary pan man Steve Achaiba; Claude
Byron, leader of the Panasonics Steel Orchestra,
Roslyn Jackson-Swanson and kaiso entertainer
Abebele. The judges – Everton Smith, Langford
Madray, Candace Achaiba and Seion Gomez had to
make difficult choices as the general consensus
was that the standard was very high. This is
borne out by the closeness of the marks of the
three highest scorers in the semi final: Megan
Waldrond (369), Roxann Singh (368) and John
Loney (367).
The full list of Saturday’s finalists is: Megan
Waldrond, Roxann Singh, John Loney, Nigel
O’Connor, Deryck Hinds, Marsha Cagan, Chiffon
Baird, Anthony Callender/Roxann Singh, Anthony
Callender, Bernard Brereton, Tyeesha Alexander,
Crystal Katerson and Lystra Nurse.
Contestants will be vying for the first prize of
TT$5,000. All finalists will receive
monetary prizes, and there are special category
prizes to be won.
From
the news desk of Southern Marines
Steelband Foundation - Joseph Wilkinson