Antigua shines in panograma competition

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By Machela Osagboro

Antigua’s own Amarni Gomes placed 9thin the first ever panograma event, which saw competitors from all over the region. 

The winner of the event, Trinidadian pannist, Earl Brooks, topped the table with a performance of Michaels Jackson’s, “Thriller.” 

Bajan-based pannist and event organiser, Nevin Roach, pioneer of the great pan fest, held this past Sunday, May 3rd, reported that it was a huge success for all the musicians who participated. 

“The competition was extremely tough; everyone showed up dressed to impress. They wore outfits relevant to their respective tunes, and the music was nothing short of amazing,” Roach told Observer media.

He also divulged that the event opened to a “packed house” surpassing over 1060 viewers with a total viewership of 1800 people. This, he said, was surprising as it was the inaugural staging of the competition by way of the Instagram platform. 

Roach further said that while there were a number of technical issues that plagued many of the pannists, particularly our very own Amarni Gomes, all the performances surpassed his expectation.

 He added that, “panograma will be back next year, bigger and better.” 

Gomes entered the competition as the tenth finalist and eventually placed 9th

He, along with the other finalists, received a US$100.00 appearance fee, courtesy of Pan Trinbago. 

The first prize was US$500.00, second prize – US$300.00 and third prize – US$200.00 and two pairs of pan sticks.

Roach thanked the event’s sponsors such as Panman Consultants, E-Pan, Pan Trinbago, US Steelband Association and LCA Designs Tobago.

Here are the results from the finals:

Earl Brooks Jr., TT – 107.67 points

Dejean Cain, TT –106 

Kersh Ramsey, TT – 105.33

Keishuan Julien, TT – 104

Mark Forde, Barbados – 103.67

Kern Sumerville, TT – 103

Hashim Durant, Barbados – 102

Tyeesha Alexander, TT – 95

Amarni Gomes, Antigua – 93

Isidore “Dow” York, St. Maarten – 92.67

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