St. Joseph wins!

It was a gruelling and hard-fought battle, filled with hours of preparation that culminated on the night of the Spirit of the Nation Show, but after all was said and done it was the parish of St. Joseph that took the crown.

 

Just as the Bible’s Joseph found favour in his father’s eyes from amongst his brothers, so too did the ambassadors from this parish find favour in the judges’ eyes, beating out ten other parishes to secure the title. And just as Joseph would receive a new title in a new place (Egypt) the parish ambassadors were also crowned in a new place on Saturday night, as the event was held at Kensington Oval for the first time.

 

Like the sun rising from the East, this parish from the East of the island rose up on the night capturing the majority of the prizes.

 

Ably represented by Brandon Beckles and Cadesha Rouse, the duo were a hit with the crowd, especially when they took to the stage in the formal wear, appropriately dressed in blue, one of the colours in the national flag of Barbados, with highlights of silver. It therefore came as no surprise when they judges, through the Masters of Ceremonies (MCs) for the evening Mark Anthony and Cassandra Samuels, announced that they duo had won in the category of Best Formal Wear.

 

They also won in the category of Best Parish Project, which was entitled, “Pride. Industry. People: St. Joseph Uh Come From” while their Parish Attendant, Mona Grant-Phillips, walked away with the Attendant of the Year.

 

The Parish Ambassadors from Christ Church, represented by Andrew Ashby and Simone Daniel, took home second place as well as the Best Costume; third place went to the Parish Ambassadors from St. Peter, represented by Jason Moore and Nadira Marshall, while St. Lucy took fourth place. They were represented by Dario Rock and Melissa Sobers.

 

In the Attendant of the Year category, Maxine Skeete from the St. Thomas captured second place, while Paula Harris from St. George took third place.

 

With regard to Parish Talent, it came as no surprise that the young Saxophonist hailing from the parish of St. Joseph and a student in the Music Programme at the Barbados Community College (BCC), Shakhouri Thompson won in the category of ‘Most Original Act’ with his original piece entitled, “Amazing”.

 

The Daryll Jordan Secondary School Steel Orchestra walked away with the title of Most Impactful Act for their instrumental entitled, “Bajan Medley”.

 

Meanwhile, in the Spirit of the Nation Awards, Thompson walked away with a third place finish; the music group, ‘Fuzion’ from St. Peter took second place performing “Barbados Island in the Sun” and the group from Daryll Jordan took first place. (PJT)