The judging of Panorama is all about music and not power, so at the semi-finals bands will have to bring their A game to qualify for 12 places on the final night to meet the reigning champion.

Over the years, medium bands have been playing just as good as, or even better than, the large bands and that’s a fact. This will make for an interesting showdown as it is musical tyranny for pan patrons to sit through 20 bands.

Small bands will continue with their own competition.

Maybe Pan Trinbago will want to look at this idea next year, as medium bands are rising to the challenge.

Keith Anderson via email

Bassarath said Ramdin’s experience played a major role in masterminding an unlikely 11-run victory against the home team at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.

The Hurricanes were comfortably placed at 115 without loss chasing Trinidad and Tobago’s 226 all out.

“While the entire team should be congratulated for another great effort, Ramdin impressed by the way he astutely used his bowlers and his brilliant field-placing which gave no quarter to the Hurricanes.

“And what was especially pleasing to watch was the way he inspired the team to keep their chins up and never give up hope, despite the outstanding opening partnership by the (Hurricanes) which appeared to lay the foundation for an easy victory,” said an elated Bassarath.

Bassarath was also high in praise for the bowlers who he said stuck to their task despite the strong reply by the Hurricanes, with “Man-of-the- Match” Khary Pierre snatching four wickets with his left-arm spin while Rayad Emrit claimed three for 49 and fellow pacer Shannon Gabriel 2/32.

Earlier, Nicholas Alexis continued to impress in his debut season, striking an even 50 to help steady the Red Force innings along with Kjorn Ottley (34) and Jason Mohammed who made 32. But it was allrounder Imran Khan with an undefeated 45, and Emrit (21) who provided the impetus lower down the batting order for what turned out to be a winning total.

Bassarath said that the Red Force are living up to the high expectations of retaining the West Indies Cricket Board 50-Overs championship, and he has no doubt that under Ramdin’s captaincy their performances will grow from strength to strength.

He said the management team, including coach Gus Logie, his assistant Kelvin Williams along with manager Roland Sampath must also be congratulated for the excellent work leading up to the tournament in helping the team prepare for the tough assignment they are now handling with aplomb.

TT Red Force’s next match is tomorrow against the Windward Islands Volcanoes at Coolidge.

The squad are in the midst of a 10-day camp at Turtle Beach, Tobago under the guidance of American-born coach Benny Astorga.

During a recent interview on the TT Football Association (TTFA) website, Astorga said, “the men are working really hard.

They are still pushing and working really hard. They know the objective, they know the goal.

They’re here in camp and are trying to secure a spot on the 14 (member team) to go to Barbados.” The team will have camps in both Barbados and Guadeloupe before the CONCACAF Championships.

There are a few European players involved in the training camp in Tobago, including FC Barcelona Beach Soccer team captain Ramiro Figueiras Amarillo.

“We’re working a lot on the movements on particular parts of the pitch,” said Astorga. “The (Barcelona) players give that particular emphasis on speed and doing things at a higher pace.

They’re constantly pressuring the guys better and quicker, and that’s showing up now.” He went on to note, “our objectives we’re meeting them. We wanted them to be focused, always challenging.” Concerning the mood in the camp, Astorga stated, “real good.

They have their down times and they take advantage of that.

The bonding is going really well.”

A year later and still a student of Queen’s Royal College, he was selected on the Trinidad and Tobago men’s team and went on to represent Trinidad and Tobago but surprisingly to all, at the age of 22, he decided to explore his other options apart from cricket.

He was appointed in the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service and was quickly elevated to one of the Specialist Anti-Crime Class 1 Units based on his work ethic, performance and other competencies which was identified by the Executive of the TTPS however, Ali, did not stop there.

Whilst pursuing a Policing career, Ali embarked on his legal studies and successfully obtained a Bachelor of laws Degree (LL.B) with honours from the University of London in the year 2012 and hinted his intention to pursue his Legal Education Certificate( LEC) in order to practice law in the Common Wealth Jurisdiction.

Ali wrote the entrance examination and was admitted to pursue his legal studies at the Hugh Wooding Law School.

In January, he obtained his Legal Education Certificate (LEC) and is patiently awaiting his admittance to practice.

But with Couva rivals W Connection hot on their heels __ one point behind in second __ and both sides facing the next best teams on today’s, the league crown can go either way in the two-team race.

Central (44 points), champions of 2014-15 and 2015-16, must face third positioned San Juan Jabloteh in their final league game from 3.30pm at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva.

Simultaneously at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella, Connection (43 points) will host fourth-positioned Ma Pau Stars.

Connection are on a seven- game winning streak since losing 2-1 to Central on December 12, while the Couva Sharks are on a four-game winning run and are coming off last week’s 6-0 win over St Ann’s Rangers.

However, their opponents Jabloteh (29 points) and Ma Pau (28 points) are also in a two-team battle of their own for a respectable third-place finish this season.

“At Central FC winning is a part of us,” said Central FC coach Dale Saunders on Wednesday during the launch and seeded draw of this season’s Digicel Pro Bowl knockout tournament.

Saunders said the work of the full Couva Sharks coaching staff — that includes the support of 2006 Trinidad and Tobago World Cup players Stern John and Brent Sancho — has been fantastic.

John serves as technical coach, while Sancho, the club’s managing director, is also known to put his knowledge of the game on the training pitch, as both ex-Trinidad and Tobago internationals had extensive careers on two continents.

“We are on the verge of winning a three-peat (in the League),” added Saunders. “…and we will try to go all the way.” Recently, Stuart Charles-Fevrier, head coach of five-time league winners (2000, 2001, 2005, 2011- 12 and 2013-14) W Connection, said, “we want to win the league (this season) like everyone else.

We have definitely improved in our results and I hope we can keep the consistency for the rest of the season. (But) we only have control over our games. So we must remain focused.” In related news, in a double- header on Friday at Couva, St Ann’s Rangers and Club Sando battled to a 3-3 draw while the encounter between Police and Morvant Caledonia United ended in a 1-1 tie.

(ttproleague.com)

Resuming day two yesterday on 135 for three in the first innings, Merry Boys posted 286 all out earning a lead of 78 runs at the Brian Lara Recreation Ground in Santa Cruz.

Richards topscored with 68 for Merry Boys, while Mario Belcon (57) and Ranga Latchana (53) both cracked half centuries. Ancil Bhagan was the top bowler for Powergen snatching 6/87.

Powergen struggled in the second innings, dismissed for 125 with national youth player Cephas Cooper scoring 39. National left-arm spinner Jaipaul took 3/38, while Rishard Harris and Keon Isaac grabbed 2/30 and 2/41 respectively.

Chasing 48 for victory Merry Boys got to 49 without loss to wrap a first round win.

Aaron Alfred cracked 26 not out, while Belcon contributed 23 not out. At the Wilson Road Recreation Ground in Penal, Central Sports will resume today’s final day’s play on 42/1 chasing 184 for victory against Clarke Road.

At Barrackpore West Secondary, Victoria closed on 189/4 yesterday in the first innings in response to Queen’s Park’s first innings score of 350/8 declared.

Alescon Comets will resume today on 110/4 in the second innings, an overall lead of 168 runs against Tableland at Pierre Road Ground in Charlieville.

SUMMARISED SCORES: POWERGEN 208 (Jeron Maniram 37, Cephas Cooper 35, Bidesh Sookhai 33; Aneil Kanhai 5/64, Ricky Jaipaul 2/45, Amir Khan 2/43) and 125 (C Cooper 39; R Jaipaul 3/38, Rishard Harris 2/30, Keon Isaac 2/41) vs MERRY BOYS 286 (Marlon Richards 68, Mario Belcon 57, Ranga Latchana 53; Ancil Bhagan 6/87) and 49/0 (Aaron Alfred 26 not out, M Belcon 23 not out). Merry Boys won by 10 wickets.

CLARKE ROAD 127 (Kerry Holness 42) and 215 (K Holness 87, Yannick Ottley 61; Kissoondath Magram 4/43, Stephen Shaddick 3/41) vs CENTRAL SPORTS 159 and 42/1 (Kamil Pooran 23 not out).

QUEEN’S PARK 350/8 declared (Jeremy Solozano 79, Marlon Barclay 65 not out, Darren Bravo 55; Garey Mathurin 4/97) vs VICTORIA 189/4 (Keddy Lesporis 93, Sherwin Ganga 60 not out; Tion Webster 2/40).

ALESCON COMETS 284 (Kieron Joseph 106, Kirk Edwards 53, Kenroy Williams 42; Al Small 3/45, Brian Pegus 3/59) and 110/4 (K Edwards 36, Idrees Mohammed 35; B Pegus 2/30) vs TABLELAND 226 (Tariq Abdool 69, R Small 45, Brent Harriot 33; Bryan Charles 5/60, K Williams 2/36).

Lewis, the head of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC), was the only candidate for the position following the withdrawal of the Dominican Republic’s Jos? Joaqu?n Puello, who claimed he had submitted an application for the role by mistake.

He will serve as CANOC chairman until next year as he will complete the term of Barbados’ Steve Stoute.

Lewis has been in interim charge of the organisation since he was elected to replace Stoute at CANOC’s Annual General Meeting in Guadeloupe in October.

Yesterday’s election took place at an Extraordinary General Assembly (EGM), held alongside the Central America and Caribbean Sports Organisation General Assembly.

“I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues to create a sustainable future for the Caribbean Olympic Movement,” Lewis told insidethegames. “It is an honour to be entrusted with the role.

As Olympic leaders, we in the Caribbean can make a positive difference.

We are determined to better serve Caribbean Olympic athletes and the youth and young people of the region through sport and Olympism. For all the challenges we face, it is an exciting time of great opportunity. In unity is our strength. Our strength is our unity.” Lewis was the sole candidate for the role following Puello’s withdrawal in bizarre circumstances.

Dominican Republic Olympic Committee (COD) officials supposedly applied on the mistaken assumption that it was part of his separate application for the Pan American Sports Organisation (PASO) Presidency.

Puello’s own signature was on the official nomination form, which made clear it was an application for the position of CANOC chairman, but a letter to the Nominations Committee claimed they “mistook the CANOC nomination form as part of the procedures set for the PASO elections”.

This year the rapso group is celebrating an impressive two decades in the music business and looking at their beginnings and future.

Sunday Newsday spoke with the band members, Wendell Manwarren, Roger Roberts and Stanton Kewley at their theatre/art gallery/event venue Big Black Box in Woodbrook.

The trio was first asked to reflect on the success of “Blue”.

“I feel very proud.

Proud is the word. Because to have survived 20 years is no mean feat. And to have the kind of response we’ve had over the years is really encouraging.

I mean it’s been up and down but generally I think it has been an incredible journey so far,” Manwarren said. Roberts recalled that when they did “Blue” they had no idea the impact the song would have had. “It took us by complete surprise. And even today performing the song is such a joy because people still enjoy the song like it was fresh,” he added.

Kewley said it was the best start of a musical career they could have wished for.

“Mind you, we were actually catapulted into music after that. ‘Blue’ would have been the fourth J’Ouvert band we were doing and it was the first time we did a song for the band,” he recalled. Manwarren said they had been working in mas and theatre but entered into the popular arena with a song playing on the radio and video on television.

“By the time we got to Brooklyn because of BET the song was playing on the streets. And that was the last thing we expected,” he recalled.

“You reach New York and people bawling ‘3canal’!” Roberts chimed in.

Manwarren said: “It really shows you the power of popular media.

And we got something which most artistes work their entire life for.” Asked how they were able to stay together as a group for 20 years Roberts said they never intended to form a music group in the first place.

“We were just friends who was into mas and theatre. And I guess because our intent was just to create stuff, to create new ideas and to explore what was going on I think that’s why,” he added.

Manwarren said: “We got an opportunity, we seized it, it turned into something.

And I think that’s how we’ve kind of approached the whole thing. And if (no opportunity) exists we make it. When there’s adversity we find a way to respond to that.” He recalled the loss of fourth member John Isaacs three years into their career.

“And the question was ‘what to do?’ And John would have been the last man to say mash up so we carried on,” he said.

Three years after that their first record label, Rituals, folded but they pressed on.

Asked what Isaacs would think about the band now Manwarren replied: “John Isaacs smiling down on this whole enterprise. He is the one guiding the whole thing. He passed but he is still here.” Roberts recalled that he was a natural teacher, natural vocalist, steeped with all the talents in the arts and very proud of his university degree.

“He was never selfish with his talents,” he added.

Asked whether their music catering to small crowds as well as big fetes was a conscious decision, Manwarren responded that they have certain tastes.

“We like Carnival, we like Carnival music. So we weren’t prepared to put out something there that didn’t have that same kind of vibe. And then because we represent under the Rapso banner that idea of conscious lyrics and making statements was always a part of the mix. It was something we just did inherently,” he explained.

Kewley said they were lucky that a great bulk of their work was with late producer Sheldon “Shel Shok” Benjamin.

“And that helped us along the way to find that sound, that real stance that the music coming from rooted in the true elements of the culture but still fresh with the influences of the world,” he added.

Roberts recalled that Shel Shok loved experimenting with tones and beats “so he was always on the edge, on the tip of where the music might go. And he had a great understanding of how to get a crowd to move.” Asked about their personal favourites from their repertoire Roberts cited “Salt” for its message of people empowering themselves. Kewley’s choice was “Mix it Up” for representing TT citizens as a “callaloo people”, and Manwarren’s preference was “Good Morning” for all that it represents.

“Because I think (it) is a song that captured so many different qualities: it’s social commentary, it’s a feel good song, it’s a song that says with a simple intervention we could fix something. It is a recognition of the change in the society where we grow up as a big community and you know everybody and we say good morning but we getting modern real fast,” he said.

Their eponymous Carnival show turns 13 this year and Manwarren described it as one of the things he is proudest of.

“That is a big innovation.

To claim a space in the middle of the Carnival,” he said.

He explained that while it’s called the 3canal show “it’s not about us.” “The number of other people that are involved in the show…

(and) have used the show as platform to train and to develop and then move on to the bigger stages.

And for me that is as it should be. We were recognised by the Coco Dance Festival for our contribution to dance…(and they said) you have one of the strongest dance components of any show,” he explained.

He continued: “The opportunity for us to dig up in our repertoire and tell a story every year is always very exciting and challenging.

So for me the 3canal show is the biggest conscious innovation we have achieved apart from the (Big) Black Box” The band is named after a cutlass and was given to them by founding member of their J’Ouvert unit, Steve Ouditt, who wanted a “badman name”. And despite their music careers they have continued to hold a J’Ouvert band and they said they do not have a choice.

Manwarren said: “Most people who really involved in making an element of Carnival you really become a servant to the thing.

There are people who depend on you and your input helps make the festival.” On their unique and creative videos Kewley pointed to their partner Walt Lovelace.

“He has blessed us with many videos that has been both experiments for himself to lead to greater things. Like ‘Mix it Up’.

That was thousands and thousands of jumps that we did and that boy edit together and make a video. He truly is gifted,” he said.

Manwarren said: “There’s just three of us but we have people we have been working with consistently that have helped develop the name, the brand, the vibe, the sound, the look, and Walt Lovelace has definitely been one of those guys we have to give credit.” They also spoke about the Big Black Box, which Roberts said is a place to experiment and interact with people and build a movement. Manwarren said they work with a team of young animators called North Eleven which builds specific content for the 3canal show. Kewley described it as a teaching space.

“We work with a foundation called the Tallman Foundation, and they working with young people who they identify as they want to be creatives, and they given that opportunity.

This space…is a real major focus because is a space to grow, to experiment, to teach, to perform and to be,” he added.

Kewley said that the business of arts and entertainment is an untapped sector and he questioned the outlet for marketing shows and identifying young talent.

The 3canal show for this year is called Blue Forever, and Kewley was the mastermind behind the “dutty angels”, around which the show revolves.

“When we started we didn’t think it would last two days, much less 20 years. So blue forever, 3canal forever and ever and ever,” he said.

The group is also working on a new album, and Manwarren explained that every Carnival they record a number of songs specific to the Carnival. This year’s songs are “Dutty Angels”, “Make ah Drain”, “Look Meh” “Do Something” and “Start Over”, which will be released as an Extended Play called 320.

“Post-Carnival we will get back in the studio and continue work on the album called Forever.

Because the 20th anniversary doesn’t end with Carnival, it continues,” he said. The new album is scheduled to be released before the end of 2017.

They all expressed thanks to the supporters, friends and family for embracing, encouraging and supporting them, including their dedicated, hard working team.

“We started without an idea that this thing would take off, much less endure. So I want to encourage any young creative out there to know there is a fine line between going for your dream and squashing your dreams. And if you really want to go for it, go for it with all that you got and you never know, it might work out,” Manwarren concluded.

Just after 14 months in operation at its 64, Tragarete Road, Newtown home, the band ran away with the title after playing a Carlan Harewood arrangement of Superblue’s “Get Something and Wave”, leaving all and sundry in its wake in the finals at Arima Velodrome on January 29.

Former mayor of Port-of-Spain Keron Valentine, who is the band’s chairman, spoke with Sunday Newsday about a dream coming true.

“Newtown Playboys is a steelband, pan theatre and sport and cultural organisation which was born out of the need to further develop the Playboyz brand, a link to its neighbour, Woodbrook Playboyz, on the the cultural landscape of Trinidad and Tobago and by extension the world.

“It was formed on August 25, 2015 and launched on November 21 of that same year,” he said.

Although it was not easy, the band had good fortune in being supported by the business community of west Port-of-Spain “After acquiring the property the task was to build the pan theatre.

We had help and I would like to publicly thank Mr Ibn de Leon of Strategic Assets Solutions (SAS) for his contribution both monetary and managerial to the development of this institution.

“I also want to thank the Sunny Group and especially Ma Pau and Amera Marketing for their continued assistance.” The former mayor went on, “I have a good team in leader Kwame Rodriguez and manager Vincent Benjamin. The players have been the pride and joy of the Newtown, Woodbrook and St James communities for the past 19 years and are all former members of Woodbrook Playboyz Steel Orchestra.

“They have engaged in community activities including Christmas initiatives, entertainment concerts and educational programmes. The talented steelpan musicians have also marketed the Playboyz brand to over 17 countries throughout the world on various tours, one including the national football team.” As recent as 2016, Playboys has been a guest at Barbados Crop Over and Miami Carnival.

The members of this steel orchestra have hosted and perform for world leaders, ambassadors such as Colin Powell, Prince Phillip, Sepp Blatter, Danny Glover and Caricom Heads of Government among others.

His birth was a fusion of a Trinidad- born mother and a father from Nevis. His music, which he calls “soca with a twist”, is a fusion of soca and pop, both genres featuring prominently in his Carnival 2017 releases “Company” and “No Behaviour”.

Sunday Newsday caught up with the young soca artiste last week at the University of Trinidad Tobago at NAPA, Port-of-Spain, where he is third-year a student pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Music majoring in Vocals. He said education has always been important to his parents and they have always supported him.

Lewis’ parents met in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and he was born and raised on Tortola, the largest of the islands. He grew up in a “calypso and soca-based house” because his mother was a Carnival junkie. She would return to Trinidad every year for Carnival and brought him back music, through which he learned about artistes like Destra (Garcia), Bunji Garlin (Ian Alvarez) and Machel Montano, whom he cited as one of his biggest music influences.

“From early on soca artistes in general were very huge influences to me musically, on a whole,” he said.

But it was calypsonian David Rudder’s song “High Mas” that “really ignited my love for listening to music”.

His “triggering moment” was at age 14 when his mother and principal “forced” him to perform “High Mas” at his secondary school opening. But when he got on stage he had a lot of fun and even “woke up” some sleeping people in the audience.

A year after that performance debut his parents sent him to a camp in the United States to improve on his academics.

It was there that he learned to write songs, sing and record. His first musical foray was not soca but rap/R&B/gospel and he was part of a group called “Church Boyz”. They performed at a number of events and had four number one songs in the BVI, all written by him and two of which were solos. After the group broke up he had a top song as a solo artist.

So how did he go from gospel rap to the sounds of soca? After high school he went through a transitional period and did not want to start college immediately because he was trying to figure out what wanted to do.

He started to write a soca song which evolved into his 2011 power soca hit “Ready to Jam”. One of his Trinidadian aunts had heard the song and suggested he perform it for Carnival 2011. That year the 18-year-old Lewis came to experience his first Trinidad and Tobago Carnival season and performed at “Battle of the Sexes” and “Temperature”, at Club Zen and did several school tours. It was nostalgic for him meeting the soca artistes he grew up listening to.

He returned in 2012 but only as a “feter and observer”. The following year he decided to do a full soca season, and he eventually moved to Trinidad permanently.

He found the fast-paced life in Trinidad completely different from life on Tortola, where after the beaches and two nightclubs he predicted Trinbagonians would be “bored to tears”.

“It really surprised me to see how small Trinidad thinks they are. And don’t realise that they are a mecca in their own right, a real powerhouse in the Caribbean and a lot of Trinidadians tend to take that for granted,” he said.

“I appreciate the opportunity I have here because it has opened the doors to so many opportunities that are happening for me.” For 2013, he released the single “Jumpin”, a catchy pop soca tune. The song and the accompanying music video, his very first, helped him get his proverbial foot in the door. In 2015, he wrote and sang background vocals for the song “Out On De Road” for Darnella Simmons of Roy Cape All Stars on the “Kan Kan” rhythm.

It was also in that year that he worked with Precision Productions and felt like he was creating the kind of music he wanted to. His sound was finally “coming into its own”.

“I knew the path of taking soca past the Caribbean, past Carnival and not making it seasonal music but music you can listen to all the time,” he explained.

For this year he is promoting his high tempo beat “Vybz Overload” about the vibes on the road. This is his first power soca since “Ready to Jam” and Lewis said “it turned people’s heads towards me”.

He was contacted by Bad Royale, a DJ and producer group based in southern California in the United States, and they told him they liked his Caribbean fusion. Together they created the tune “No Behaviour” which received more than 40,000 views on YouTube.

“I never saw my views rise so quickly on a song,” he beamed.

Two Saturdays ago he released the groovy “Company”, another Bad Royale collaboration and this time featuring a duet with Roy Cape’s Darnella. Lewis said he is loving where his sound is now and is a little overwhelmed and excited by the attention.

This Carnival he will be performing mainly in clubs and will also being doing some school concerts.

He said that in the past few years a lot more artistes of his generation – Voice (Aaron St Louis), Sekon Sta (Nestor Boxhill) and Erphaan Alves – have been having huge hits which showed that a new generation was coming up.

“The future is happening now. It is a good sign for soca in general.” One of his biggest goals is to see a soca song on the Billboard charts. One of his biggest dreams is doing collaborations with Machel, Kes the Band, Preedy (Akim Chance) and David Rudder, which he said would take his life and career “full circle