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Vanilla Road March Queen Again

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

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Engineer is Guyana’s first representative at Mr. World pageant

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.

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Guyanese Fashion to the next level

“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

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Banks DIH and Digicel rule Mash day road parade

There is yet to be an announcement of who is the designer of the year but after all the revelry for the nation’s 40th Republic anniversary from Church Street to the National Park, Banks DIH and Digicel are the major prize winners for the 2010 costume float parade competitions.

Banks DIH got four first places spots for the best individual King that presented the majesty of the Banks Beer, Best full costume large band than numbered in excess of 200 and best Semi costume band which featured about 300 revellers. That company also won the commercial floats top prize. Additionally Banks DIH also copped two third place prizes in the individual female and queen categories.

Digicel captured three first place spots in the individual male, female and Queen categories as well as one third in the Large full costumes band for their Pollination presentation the featured the Humming Bird, the Honey bee and  the Hibiscus flower all designed by Olympia Sonnoram.

AnSa Mcal (carib) copped three third place spots for individual female, male and king costumes with their message of sand, sea and sun.

The National Aids programme secretariat and the ministry of education copped the first place spots in the full costume medium and small band categories over GPL and the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs respectively.

Region ten and the Ministry of Agriculture won the semi costume bands medium and small category respectively while the Chinese association and the public service Ministry copped the second place spots.

The PPP placed second in the large band semi costumes category while Slingshot’s Guyana: an oasis of hope placed third.

The National Library won the non-commercial float top prize while the Body of Christ and the Chinese Association placed second and third respectively.

In the regional competitions region four was the best copping the top prizes for the individual King and Queen Costume categories but regions one and ten copped the pop honours in the full and semi costume categories. (Mondale Smith)

Prize giving is set for the March 5th

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Mash Explosion on tomorrow- Baby Cham, Anthony B

With the Mashramani Day road parade over and the many soca, chutney and calypso events concluded the stage is now set for a Mash wash down dubbed ‘Mash Explosion’.

Jamaican artiste Anthony B arrived in Guyana yesterday and Baby Cham is scheduled to touch down today on a morning flight out of Miami at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.

The concert is aimed at ensuring that persons get a chance to be inspired and it offers a different kind of stress relief after all the soca party sessions.

On the cards to perform tomorrow night are Jamaica’s Digicel Rising star Benetto as well as ‘DJ Gold Teeth’.  Additionally the local line-up will include Alabama of ‘Dem don’t care’ fame, Treyon Garrett out of First Born, and culture/reggae artistes ‘Fire Fred’.

Anthony B’s hits include “Repentance time”, “Fire pon Rome”, “One Thing”, “A De Man”, “Rumour” and “Raid di Barn”. Anthony B followed up with critically acclaimed albums such as “Real Revolutionary”, “Universal Struggle”, “7 Seals”, “Black Star” and “Untouchable”.

No stranger to Guyana, Damian Beckett aka Cham, a Grammy Award-nominated Jamaican recording artist is known for hits like “Ghetto Story.”