GuyanaLive.com Blog

After an outstanding 2009 season, the Hikers Hockey Club is once again looking to give it’s youngsters a taste of international competition. This time around they will team up with the Old Fort Hockey Club as both clubs look to give their players early expose to the artificial surface that the international game is now played exclusively on.

Hikers became the first local team to feature in the Trinidad and Tobago Easter tournament, when they made their debut last year. The tournament is open to all clubs and schools within the Caribbean region and is played over a three day period with under 13, 16 and 21 categories for both boys and girls teams. Last year, Hikers placed third in the under 16 category, with their star player Shaquelle Assanah being named MVP of that category. In the under 21 category their two wins and two losses were not enough to get them out of the group stage.

The exposure that these young players received at last years tournament was the main catalyst for the team’s successful year in which they returned to captured the Noble House Goals Galore Second Division Title. They then went on to play undefeated to take the John Fernandes Insurance Second Division League Title and the GT&T Under 19 National indoor title. The outstanding youngsters from this team also played key roles in helping their senior team secure the Farfan and Mendes first division league title and the Banks Night Hockey first division title, as well as the Diamond Mineral Water International Indoor title for the fourth time in the past five years.

With the recent increase in airfare to the twin island republic the two clubs are still hoping to raise enough funds to cover the team’s participation in this year’s tournament which runs from the 31st of March to the 2nd of April at the Trinidad & Tobago National Hockey Centre. The team has already secured the look to match their silky smooth skills after being outfitted with new kit by Woodpecker Products, while Global Technology continues their invaluable educational partnership with the junior team.

Hikers Hockey Club Junior Team Complete 2009 Results;

Mr. Topper Indoor Tournament - Second Division Runners-up

Trinidad & Tobago Junior Easter Tournament Under 16 category – 3rd Place (Shaquelle Assanah MVP)

Noble House Goals Galore Indoor Tournament – Second Division Champions

Banks Night Hockey Tournament – Second Division Runners-up

John Fernandes Insurance Second Division League – Champions (Played Undefeated)

GT&T National Indoor Championships – Under 19 Champions & Second Division Runners-up

If one assesses the Mash KIK Tour it would best be dubbed a well planned and organized event which probably came from the proven event management abilities of the Wildfire productions group. They offered a good example of what should be done to please patrons as an example to other budding promoters.

Security seemed one of the group’s highest priorities, and the music systems, lights, and other things were well in place.

However, as agreed by group head, Jonathan Beeepat, the crowd support was not as they had hoped or anticipated for.

Patrons who attended the Linden show obviously had a blast but the crowd support was poor. However, the Berbice show was well attended to the point that Beepat confidently said “Berbice will definitely see more of Wildfire Productions events”.

Konshens, his young apprentice, Darrio, and the Konshens Movement were an amazing group to work with, Beepat said. He also noted that of the many artistes his group has brought to the local shores none have been more fun, professional, and easy to work with than them.

In Beepat’s assessment, “Konshens is on his way to being one of the biggest names in dancehall/reggae music industry and the amazing part of it is his humbleness.”

He said that from experience many artistes talk about being humble and down to earth, but Konshens lives the talk.

In Linden, there was some rumours that the show was cancelled. Konshens was notified and  joined in doing all necessary to dispel the rumour through PA and TV programmes.

This happened even though he needed rest coming from a club show the night before.  He threw on his white vest, cut jeans, sneakers, grabbed a Mackeson and was ready to go on the road.

On the road, Konshens was out walking alongside the PA truck, signing autographs, giving away promotional CD’s, taking pictures, hugging the ladies, and just working the road all around Linden.

In Berbice, Konshens did not miss the opportunity to be part of the Mash celebrations as he also walked the road interacting with the crowd and stopping at each sound system to give the people a sample of his voice. The ladies were crazy for the artistes to talk to them.

Crowds continually flocked to the Wildfire team to the point that what started out as 12 of became an entourage of hundreds following the artistes while he walked throughout Main Street, Berbice.

Beepat said his team “had a great experience with Konshens, and we will be working with him again in the future”.

His team was privy to be behind the scenes and to get to know some of the plans of the Konshens movement and listen to tunes which aren’t even released as yet and the collective sentiments are that his music is what dancehall needs.

It is safe to state that his gritty vocals, blended with some of the hottest dancehall beats, and covered with the message he puts in his music are among the ingredients that makes him truly the next big thing.

Konshens is always conscious of what he wants his youthful followers to hear, and he lets people feel the good vibes message in a style which that they all can relate to.

The Wildfire show was sponsored by Mackeson and Giftland Officemax with much gratitude to Miguel of the Konshens Movement.

Beepat cognisant that Georgetown was left out of the Konshens tour experience promises that “Georgetown can expect to see him, and when he comes again, Guyana will be mesmerized!”

By Mondale Smith

The place to be  tomorrow   especially if you are talented  youth aged  4-14 is at the Theatre Guild  , Kingston for a chance to show case  your talent and possibly win some cash in the Cellink KidStage talent competition. The fourth preliminary round of the Cellink KidStage was boosted last week when eleven contestants made it through to the quarter finals.

Moving on to the 2nd quarter finals are from last week’s competition are Alphius Bookie, Jeremiah Williams, Navendra Singh, Maria Collymore, Akeeda Whaul, Tamara Innis, Steffon Ageda and Dexter Nelson.

“I feel excited, overwhelmed and motivated that I am selected in the top 10″, noted Whaul who believes that KidStage has so far caused her to realize her dreams in the Arts. Ultimately like all the other contestants she desires to move higher in her vocals and thus encourages all children to be part of this “dream-realizing programme”.

Weekly successful participants move on from auditions to preliminaries and out of the February 27 auditions six lucky contestants, were favoured by the judges including Amanda David, Alliah Corlette, Aaliyah Rosheuvd, Kyle Archer, Melissa Benjamin and Tiffany McAlmont. This bunch will be on show on tomorrow, March 6, at the theatre Guild, Kingston.
Meanwhile performances last Saturday were hype and stirred the audience to thunderous applauses as Andre Duesbury dominated through his sterling performance and song “Teacher, Teacher”, which presents the teachers’ plight of working hard, ring a bell, work overtime in the fields, yet “no big money”. Being the crowd’s favourite, Duesbury felt flabbergasted that at 8-years-old, he is already a “Guyanese star”.
Caption: Budding star Andre Duesbury delivering the sterling Teacher, teacher

By Mondale Smith

Jamaican Dancehall icon, Baby Cham, and Anthony B were the two major acts carded to perform at the Mash Explosion concert but that never materialized much to the disappointment of fans.

Much confusion followed as irate fans looted the bar and broke up a sound system. The promoter Nigel Harding has since issued an apology and promised that the artistes will be performing at a free show sometime in the not too distant future.

While none of the artistes’ camps have confirmed this statement Baby Cham has sent an apology to his Guyanese fan base for his non-performance at the National Park on Saturday February 27.

The artiste and his team left Guyana disappointed and said that this happened “after the promoter, Seven Star Entertainment, failed to meet obligations”.

Cham explained, “We always honour and respect our fans and unfortunately a number of requirements were not in place; certain obligations were not met by the promoter and we were not able to make it to the venue to perform for the fans.”

Apologizing for the unfortunate situation, Khorie Ann Robb, Public Relations Manager of Headline Entertainment, a booking agent, noted,  “Our non-appearance was in no way due to our fault …we were present and ready to work. The promoter failed to handle the situation the way he should have and as such we had to leave the country without performing.”

The artiste is anticipating a return to the country to perform for the people as Guyana still remains one of his favourite markets.

By Mondale Smith

…says negotiation underway with artiste to hold free show

Nigel Harding the promoter of the botched Mash Explosion which saw angry patrons demolishing $$M in audio equipment is issuing a public apology to the patrons for what he called a delay in getting the artistes to the National Park.

The delay was caused by late payment to the artistes Anthony B and Baby Cham who did reach the venue at about 02:00hrs

Harding conceded that the artistes were supposed to take the stage at 12:00 but because of the nonpayment this did not happen until 02:00hrs when Anthony B attempted to calm the crowd but the audio system had already been damaged and the microphone was not working.

He added also that the owners of the audio equipment have been compensated however this newspaper understands that only a promise has been made thus far.

As it relates to his rendezvous at the Alberttown Police Station Harding said that he was invited by the police and thought it best to meet there after the owners of the equipment that was damaged had lodged a complaint and he was unsure as to the level of hostility against them.

He said that contrary to rumours there were no threats on his life.

At the beginning of the show there were no signs of worries as local artistes performed but the extended music on speakers by DJ’s brought on suspicions.

When it was realised that the headline acts would be a no show the angry patrons began to ransack the bars claiming that they had to get their money’s worth but it did not end there.

The angry patrons amidst a hail of bottles began damaging the audio equipment including speakers and band equipment among other items.

However, according to a reliable source, the ruckus started just as the artistes were about to appear on stage having worked out a financial arrangement with the promoter.

It is unclear if anyone was arrested as gunshots could be heard ringing out in the air with police at their wits end to restore order.

Sources within the Vizion Sounds promotion Inc. distanced themselves from what triggered the chaos, pointing out that they were merely hired by Harding of ‘7 Star Entertainment’ to help promote the show and were not responsible for the payment to the artistes.

By Gary Eleazar

Jamaican artiste Keith ‘Anthony B’ Blair of ‘Tease her and please her’ fame has arrived in Guyana and is ready to create a post ‘Mash explosion’ at the National Park. During an interview yesterday the artiste who arrived on Thursday night said “Guyana can look forward to an electrifying performance with lots of hits from then and now because this ah me first time here and so me gwine really bless up and entertain positively”. The show is being promoted by Vision sounds and Seven Stars promotions. Baby Cham arrives tonight.

Since his arrival on Thursday night Anthony B has visited the Plaisance line top Guinness bar and several other locations and he says “me and my manager Tina Jones feel like we are part of the Guyanese family already. The people showed us real love and created some real vibes that surprised us so we are happy and will spread that happy vibe to my Guyanese fans.”

In to music professionally since 1994 Anthony B arrived here fresh from a West Coast U.S tour and says he had many offers from promoters to come to Guyana but that the timing did not seem right then. “But since linking up with Seven Star promotions group it feels like the time is right so Guyana I’m here with more than 1000 singles and 15 albums, no me not gwine sing all but you are guaranteed a good show from me and then there is my brethren Baby Cham who will be performing too so come out in yah tens and thousands.”

Looking back at his involvement in music he said his interest in having a musical career began in school and it remains his first love and as he says “I’m taking it to the skies”. In his career he has collaborated with a plethora of popular main stream artistes in and out of Jamaica and is aspiring to one day not just be nominated for but to actually win one a Grammy Award.

In 2009 he was nominated at the Grammy’s for reggae album of the year for his ‘Rise up album’ but the award was won Stephen Marley.

The artiste says he gets his inspiration from everyday experiences and uses those to write his songs. He enjoys promoting positive vibes and speaks up about the eradication of the many social ills that plague society such as HIV and AIDS. So committed is he to the cause that eh wrote several songs along the line of caution. One songs he quotes “all over the world man and woman are dying because of disease, I don’t want to be an HIV victim father please…”

At present Anthony B is working to release a new album dubbed ‘Rasta love’ by May of this years and it will feature 16 songs including a combination with Kimani Marley on a song called Zion.

A proud Rastafarian he says he is proof that the stereotypical Rasta is only a myth unless other dreadlocks youths who choose to deviate. To youths aspiring to achieve much from life he said education is the key…once you have it no one can’t take it away from you ever. And regarding the music business education is very important”

To music new comers he encourages that “education is the key capitalize on every opportunity to be educated and as an entertainer give as much positive vibes as you can and people will feel a part of your cause and get on board. This is the Anthony B’s first visit to the local shores and he says it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

By Mondale Smith

Jamaican artistes Anthony B has arrived for the Mash Explosion concert that features himself and Baby Cham tomorrow (saturday) night at the National Park.
Last evening he was featured as a guest at the Plaisance line top Guinness bar where he entertained briefly. Baby Cham arrives tonight.

The show is being promoted by Vision sounds and Seven Stars promotions. Pix show  the artiste in Guyana upon arrival with Promoter Nigel Harding and with Guyanese fans at the plaisance line top.

By Mondale Smith

Its official, for the second year in a row Melissa ‘Vanilla’ Roberts age 27 has copped the Road March queen title.  The official result coming out of the Mash Secretariat is that her song High was the most played on the mash route and as such she has been adjudged the 2010 Road March queen.

Her song high came up against fifteen others including Jumo’s ‘in de air’ and Bones-man’s ‘Mashramani time is we own’. When contacted with the news Vanilla’s reaction was “ok I trust your information but I done’t really react in anyway out of the ordinary when I win.”

She said the song written by her manager Burchmore Simon is about the colourful festival of Mash and encourages all to get involved in building the spirit of Mashramani as we festival taking it to the next level.

Simon also wrote ‘Wrap It Up’ and ‘Mama I done’t Want To Be Born’ and both were adjudged as winners of the 2010 junior calypso competition and the HIV/Aids song competition. Simon also co-wrote the winning Soca monarch song donee by Bonesman titled “Is We Own”.

Of her win for a second year Vanilla said she is elated and hopes that this trend will continue. She let up that this time around because the quality of soca music around “I wasn’t sure if I was going to win this year but last year I was certain when I won with Rude.”

This is her 4th year in the competition. In 2008 she missed the crown by one point when Big Red won with ‘on the road again.’

Vanilla  also placed  second in the soca monarch competition as she had done last year with rude and said that she will certainly be going up for the title of soca monarch next year as well as going for a three-pete.

Burchmore Simon her manager said “it was a great season and Vanilla’s win is an additional incentive to continue to work hard and dedicate ourselves to further developing the music industry”. Two weeks from now Vanilla who hails from Berbice but resides in Georgetown said her fans can look forward to yet another scorching video from her. She will be releasing a video for her single titled “Pressure”. She expressed gratitude to all her supporters and said “I could not have donee it with out you the fans.”

By Mondale Smith

Max Chung, a 21-year-old engineer living in England, is representing Guyana at the Mr World Pageant which is slated for March 27 in Korea.

The Mr World pageant, an exhibition of adventure, sport and style, is run by the Miss World organisation.

Even though he works as an engineer, Chung, who enjoys cricket and boxing, would like to become a Police officer in the future.

Max says that if he had to perform in front of a live audience he would do powerlifting. He did power-lifting at the national level in Austria in 2004/5.

He believes that his best quality is his ability to listen. One thing he could not live without? Why, his iPhone! Coming to favourite things, his favourite landmark is the Eiffel Tower, while his favourite film is “Taken” by Liam Neeson. His favourite sports car is the Range Rover Sport.

The Mr World 2010 finalists will face a series of events that test their strength, stamina, mental agility and determination to succeed in the face of adversity.

The television final will showcase the beautiful country of Korea, highlighting its spectacular scenery, fascinating history and diverse culture as the Mr World nations face each new and exciting challenge that has been prepared for them.

Host city Icheon boasts many attractions on its dramatic landscape, including magnificent temples, picturesque beaches, towering mountains and beautiful, secluded islands which will be the backdrop for the largest ever men’s event of its kind, Mr World 2010.

“Clothes maketh man, naked people have little or no effect on society” Cleverly stated by Mark Twain, the importance of clothes and by default a sense of fashion has for too long been understated. From bell bottoms, to boot-cuts, to pencils and maybe back? Fashion is ever changing, always evolving in this rapidly stylistic world. Keeping up with it may not be a walk in the park but more like a guy finishing last in a road race.

Some may argue that what’s in style depends on what the celebrities wear, while others may opine that fashion is following your personal sense of style  While this may be true, there are a few who may showcase their own true style.

Guyana has been making its mark in the Fashion Industry over the past few years.  Guyanese designers have awed many audiences with their unique and fabulous sense of designs and concepts.   The most popular names in Guyanese and Caribbean fashion are Sonia Noel and Michelle Cole, while others like Olympia Small and Roger Gary have also caused a few ripples of their own.

Two of these designers, Michelle Cole and Sonia Noel have made an indelible mark on fashion in Guyana and are mothers to two of the most anticipated fashion events in Guyana. Michelle has offered to us an innovative and sassy venture called FACTS which seeks to showcase and reward the talent and creativity of young designers, which has completed three cycles to date. Sonia meanwhile has brought to Guyana, undoubtedly our biggest fashion event, Guyana Fashion Weekend.

Marisca Fiedtkou, daughter of Sonia Noel, who is no stranger to the fashion industry herself, is keen to follow her mother’s progressive footsteps and carve a name for herself in the fashion book of fame.

Talk Style Fashion Club is the brain child of Marisca. This project was started as an interactive club geared for the young and hip. With monthly meetings, it allows young ladies to get together and share their views and discover their personal style

Being a member of this club offers a variety of benefits; with membership you get 10% discount on anything you purchase from the Talk Style Fashion Club section at “Silhouettes”, which is located at 176 Barr Street, Kitty, Georgetown. Members also have access to personalized shopping, updates on the latest looks and trends so that you will always be in fashion, no matter which direction your sense of may lead. It also allows, facilitates and encourages making new friends through networking, image and self esteem building and much more.

Wondering how you may join the Talk Style Fashion Club? At the meetings, registration forms are distributed. Membership costs GY$1000 per month, which is only GY$10,000 per year.

The Club has held one meeting for the year to date, which focused extensively on personal style.  Fashion magazines were distributed and members were educated about celebrity styles and the roles they play in society.  Session two, is dated for Saturday 27th February 2009 at 13:00hrs. The venue would be 1068 Aubrey Barker and Gaulding, South Ruimvelt. Session two focuses on “make up” tips and Easter attire.  Further interaction and networking continue while persons from the first meeting are allowed to bring a friend along.

In the near future, Talk Style Fashion Club will be making it way to the television arena, with a show hosted by Marisca Fiedtkou.

By Shane Pearce