The preliminaries of the Kings and Queens of Carnival turned out to be a disappointment, as many of the costumes that danced under the dark blue skies did not come up to scratch with creativity, workmanship and originality. Not only did many of the costumes look like recycled and reworked mas, there was a poor attendance of patrons at the Queen’s Park Savannah on Thursday. Only a sprinkling of tourists were present to witness the presentations of the National Carnival Commission’s 44 Queens and 45 Kings, 40 of whom would move on to the semi final round next week.
Several of the costumes were built around nature’s elements fire, earth and water, while others chose the Chinese art form and flags as their theme. The presentation, which was supposed to kick off at 7 pm, was delayed by 80 minutes due to intermittent showers. As the Queens made their grand entry, local spectators were heard commenting that many of the portrayals were “the same ole same ole” designs, innovation and concepts. Only few costumes were well received by the crowd.
Among those were Kadaffi Romney who portrayed Brian Mac Farlane’s creation Manzandaba In Flight from the band Africa-Her People, Her Glory, Her Tears. Romney depicted a beautiful, regal African queen with flowing braids on flight a golden-coloured spirited bird. Charlene Ann Williams’ depiction Dance Of The Bird Of Paradise from the band Iere Virgin Paradise gave off an iridescent colour under the glowing lights that thrilled the crowd. Williams also used the breeze that blew from east to west to her advantage as her paper thin wings fluttered, creating enchanting movements. Susanne Low, a veteran in the business excited patrons with her All That Jazz kaleidoscope costume, working the stage with her fancy foot movements and singing a song produced in the roaring 60’s. The Kings’ costumes were by far better in terms of creativity and originality.
Curtis Eustace, having repeatedly copped the King of Carnival title, brought the crowd to its feet with his Apollo’s Lust depiction from the band Temptation. The head and body of Eustace’s orange, bronze and gold coloured costume swirled and twirled in all directions sending spectators into a frenzy. Roland St George, who depicted Yucahu, Atabi’s Son from the band Iere Virgin Paradise was also another favourite with his mammoth, shimmering blue and silver costume, which demonstrated how the original people of paradise worshiped God. Stephen Alexis worked his Ndlovu In Search costume, a lion’s head with glittering, beady eyes shrieking through the safari grasses with his flowing mane, another Brian Mac Farlane creation, stunning the crowd. Wade Madray also delighted many with his unusual and creative Chinese designed costume The Way Of Zen. Sitting majestically between two monks and green dragons, Madray depicted a Chinese emperor in his beautifully decorated pagoda.
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