Golden Hands, from Independence Avenue, San Fernando, topped the preliminary round of the ensemble category in the National Steelband Music Festival, Pan Is Beautiful XII, staged at the Queen's Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain, last weekend.
Playing Vanessa Headley's adaptations of Michael Jackson's Earth Strong and the test piece, Respect the Steelband, by Black Stalin (Leroy Calliste), the aggregation, under the baton of Franka Hills Headley, racked up a total of 561 points to emerge 26 points ahead of second-place qualifier Fusion Steel of Tarouba, Marabella. Fusion Steel aggregated 535 points for its renditions of Jit Samaroo's Pan Patterns and the test piece, adapted by a combination of Daren Sheppard, Dike Samai, and Opal Murrel.
Third place went to defending category champion Stryke Stars of Pashley Street, Laventille. Led by Kenneth Guppy, the ensemble scored 532 points for Guppy's adaptations of his composition Journey to the Promised Land and the test piece.
The three other ensembles advancing to the final, scheduled for November 8 at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA), Port-of-Spain, are: Petrotrin Hatters of Lady Hailes Avenue, San Fernando–The Renewal and test piece–523 points; Longdenville Claytones of Depot Road, Longdenville–Tenderly and test piece–516 points; and Success Stars Gems of Eastern Main Road, Laventille–Pan In A Minor and test piece–502 points.
In the soloists category, Keisha Codrington of the Codrington Pan Family placed first with a score of 275 points for her interpretation of Kitchener's Pan In Harmony.
Joshua Jabari Bedeau of Golden Hands scored 264 points to place second with the Vanessa Headley composition Call Me Hero, and Khari Codrington of Codrington Pan Family tied for third place with Anthony Phillip of CAL Invaders. Codrington played Kitchener's Pan Night And Day, and Phillip played Arddin Herbert's La Vie Sur La Paix (Life At La Paix Road). Both scored 262 points.
Other qualifiers for the final on November 8 are:
Meagan Taitt (Fascinators Pan Symphony)–Written In August–255 points
Kern Summerville (T&T Police)–Rainorama–253 points
Dachelle Morrison (Tobago Serenity Vibes)–Fiddle Faddle–252 points
Avery Attzs (Tobago Serenity Vibes)–Fiddle Faddle–248 points.
Pan Is Beautiful XII continues on October 19 and October 20 with preliminaries in the orchestra category at the Queen's Park Savannah, starting at 6 pm and 5 pm, respectively.