‘Pacific Tsunami’ leads

Its blend of colours blue, white, silver as well as a menacing face at the centre of a huge wave sought to depict the ferocity of a tsunami. It was applauded by the patrons of the grand stand.

Madray entered the stage with a slow crawl with sound effects accompanying his portrayal. The mammoth costume — 24 feet high, 45 feet wide — was one of the largest crossing the stage. Apart from the tsunami, there were a clown, a fancy sailor, a fire man and a pair of battling ants among the 20 finalists vying for the final ten places Sunday’s Dimanche Gras show.

Brian Mac Farlane’s king “In the Beginning Good and Evil” portrayed by Gerard Weekes which tied for first with Madray in the preliminaries had to settle for fourth place in the semi-final with 415 points. The mainly black and silver costume depicted the Garden of Eden.

There were theatrics as Weekes mimicked biting the silver apple attached to the tree and then scrolls attached to the costume unfurled like wings. Each wing had an image of an angel or devil. Also dropping in the ranking at the semi-final stage was “Bozo–D Legend Lives on” portrayed by Curtis Eustace which was second in the prelims but placed sixth in the semis. Second place was Roland St George with his presentation of “Pan on Fire” which showed a panman beating a pan with flames rising below the pan.

The four and a half hour show which started promptly at 7.30 pm with the National Anthem also had the finals of the Junior Queens and several conventional individuals parading before the judges. Third place was Marlon Rampersad with “Bedazzled” which lived up to its name under the lights of the QPS and accompanied by Arrow’s song “Hot, Hot, Hot”.

First to cross the stage in the Kings competition was Earl Beckles with “Dragon Dance” from the band Dream Team’s 2011 presentation “The Art of Dance.” Apart from a brief lull of about ten minutes between each king, there was a smooth flow of presentations.

The results of the semi-final, with the top ten moving on to the King of Carnival final to be held on the night of Dimanche Gras on Sunday.