You're gonna love me

So many times you go to competitions and shows and you always feel that one of the participants were robbed of a place among the winners or that the winner didnt deserve the accolade. Not so last night at the Arawak House of Culture for the first annual Secondary School lip synch competition.

The competition which was a joint initiative of the National Youth Council and the Mira Entertainment group (Miguel Labadie, Mara Frederick) was a return to the 1980' and 90's when lip synching was a popular activity among the youth of Dominica and by every movement on stage and the crowd reaction, lip synching still has a place within our entertainment needs.

The young persons shined brightly, mimicking their favourite international stars and the variety was really put out there for all to savour. Songs by Michael Jackson, Duane Stephenson, Leona Lewis, Dreamgirls' Jennifer Hudson among others.

Competition was tight but in the end Miss Mahelia Bunche of the Business Training Center walked off with the hearts of the crowd, judges and even her fellow participants as it was all around joy on the stage during the trophy presentation, something you seldom see these days. There was some tears but those were celebratory in nature, coming from the winner who prevailed despite a minor wig incident during her performance and personal struggles over the past year. Her "rendition" of "And I Am Telling You, I'm Not Going Away" also popularly known as "You're Gonna Love Me" from the Dreamgirls soundtrack was just powerful and recieved a standing ovation from the crowd.

All in all, the efforts were well worth it and even though I didnt pay to get in the door, i got my monies worth and alot more. No one came out from the show feeling robbed by the participants, guest performances or judging panel. Well done by all.

There were a few glitches, like the late start, microphone trouble for the MC's and the electricity failure just after the start by the ever-reliable cadet corps musical band but after a delay of about 20 minutes the show never seemed to let down after that.

The only people who got robbed on that night were those absent and all indications point to future lip synch shows of even greater success. The only question that comes to mind, can the performances get any better?

Nest@