Sean Nero

Reign­ing Na­tion­al Panora­ma cham­pi­on Neal and Massy Trinidad All Stars Steel Or­ches­tra is aim­ing to equal the his­toric hat-trick of wins in the com­pe­ti­tion held by its ri­vals, BP Rene­gades Steel Or­ches­tra.

Nine-time Panora­ma cham­pi­on Rene­gades has held the record for the past 16 years. The band last won the ti­tle in 1997 with Jit Sama­roo's arrange­ment of Gui­tar Pan by the late Lord Kitch­en­er (Ald­wyn Roberts).

Trinidad All Stars wants to break Rene­gades' record.

Speak­ing at the band's an­nu­al Christ­mas din­ner last Sat­ur­day at Hi-Lo head­quar­ters, Wright­son Road, Port-of-Spain, Beres­ford Hunte, leader and gen­er­al man­ag­er of the band out­lined plans by

his ex­ec­u­tive for Car­ni­val 2013. He said while the band is go­ing af­ter an­oth­er win in the com­pe­ti­tion, the fi­nal de­ci­sion is hands of the pan­el of mu­sic ad­ju­di­ca­tors.

"We are not in charge of the re­sults, but we are in charge of our per­for­mance," Hunte said.

He said what­ev­er hap­pens dur­ing the 2013 Na­tion­al Panora­ma Com­pe­ti­tion, All Stars mu­sic must res­onate pos­i­tive­ly in the hearts and minds of mu­sic lovers every­where.