Paparazzi cops King, Queen of Carnival

Both women earned 430 points and were crowd favourites. Thomas’ costume was a bird with a long red neck and white wings that extended and retracted, with bright, multi-coloured plumage at the back. Omalo’s Sheera, The Ice Queen from the band Antourage Productions was the larger than life face of a white tiger with black stripes, which many thought would finally earn the veteran masquerader the Queen of Carnival crown.

The rules state that in the case of a tie, a judge chooses which costume/ portrayal was better, which, in this case, was Thomas for de Nebula. Interviewed shortly before midnight on Tuesday at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of- Spain where the junior and senior competitions were held, Thomas said her first time on the big stage “was great.” “I am appreciative of everyone in the team that made it memorable for me.” She intends to “bring back the crown” in 2018. On her selection as Paparazzi’s queen, Thomas said, “I knew I was a newcomer but I just wanted to bring home the title for the Eustace family. I’m not going to lie, (the costume) was definitely heavy...I’ve been going through months of trying to gain weight and fluctuating to get into the costume and it was all worth it.” Rose Marie Kuru-Jaggessar’s Fancy Indian portrayal, Queen Chirapaq __ A Tribute to Esther Theodore from the band Lionel Jaggessar and Associates was third with 426 points. His face still covered in silver paint from his portrayal of Crypto, Lord of the Galaxy, Eustace told reporters, “It is great to carry on the Eustace tradition.” While “the expectation was there” that he would retain his title, Eustace said, “It was a lot of work to keep the momentum going.” This included modifications to Crypto to increase the movement of the animal’s hind legs from what the judges saw during the preliminary round last Thursday. Eustace earned 431 points to secure victory.

His costume was designed by Hayden Joseph and cost $120,000.

It took three months to build.

Thomas’ costume cost was designed by Marcus Eustace and also took three months to build but it cost 50 percent less - $60,000.

Earning 415 points, Eustace’s brother Curtis Eustace placed second with Falconidae, D Desert Prey. The falcon’s tongue was a serpent which moved in and out of the beak, illuminated by red lights while the eyes and face were lit in green against large black and silver- gold wings. Third place, with 409 points, went to Keston Benthum for Nibinabe - a large male figure in shades of blue with white, green and silver. The costume depicted the importance of water as the source of life.

There was one mishap when the support stilts on the golden pheasant costume Argus Le Grand: All Eyes on Me, collapsed during Glen Dave Lakhan’s performance. The larger than life bronze and gold pheasant, with aquamarine and iridescent colours, was a sight to behold before its collapse. Lakhan tried to carry on but the weight of the bird proved too much for him, as the back of the costume dropped to the stage.

Natalia keeps Jnr Queen crown Natalia d’Abreau retained her title as Junior Queen of Carnival with Egypt’s Beauty, a costume of yellow feathers with gold adorning the upper wings and accents of red, purple and blue. The judges awarded her 432 points. Like the seniors, there was a tie among the junior queens but for second place __ African Butterfly, portrayed by Jeremiah Walters, and Candelabrum portrayed by Ariya Lyder-Baptiste, who both scored 416 points.

In the end, Walters’ white winged-butterfly with accents of gold, orange, red and black, perched atop flowering branches, took second place while Lyder- Baptiste’s costume placed third.

The Junior King of Carnival was also highly competitive with one point separating the winner Samuel Jackson from Ryan Sooknanan.

Jackson earned 438 points for his portrayal of Samuel Star, D Mystical Blazing Fireman, with Sooknanan on 437 points for the multi-coloured Wings of Africa.

Clad in a fancy fireman costume with orange-red wings, Jackson danced with a cane to a live performance by soca artiste Devon Matthews. Third place, with 401 points, went to Denzil Forde for I Am the King of the Deep - an octopus with fish swimming past his tentacles.