An­ge­lo Mar­celle

Los Alum­nos de San Juan have done it yet again. The Low­er San­ta Cruz, Bourg Mu­la­tresse-based group won the pres­ti­gious Na­tion­al Parang As­so­ci­a­tion of Trinidad & To­ba­go (NPATT) ti­tle at the Ari­ma Velo­drome on Sat­ur­day night. With a to­tal of 187 points, the parang gi­ants have cer­tain­ly stamped their au­thor­i­ty on parang com­pe­ti­tions. Ten points sep­a­rat­ed them from sec­ond-placed Amantes de Par­ran­da.

With this win, Los Alum­nos De San Juan has made it a record eight times win­ning this cov­et­ed ti­tle. Lead singer Ali­cia Jages­sar has been named Parang Queen on nine oc­ca­sions. La Ded­i­ca­cion, La Prome­sa and Him­no De Ale­gria were the songs of choice for Los Alum­nos de San Juan. Play­ing in sec­ond po­si­tion on the night, the reign­ing cham­pi­on set a high stan­dard for oth­ers to fol­low.

TOP RIGHT: Back up singers for Vo­ces Jovenes spread the an­gels' mes­sage.

RIGHT: An in­stru­men­tal­ist from La Casa de Par­ran­da plays the man­dolin be­hind his neck.

From her very first note, Jages­sar evoked cheers and whis­tles of ap­pre­ci­a­tion from the Ari­ma crowd. The over­cast skies and chilly wind didn't seem to mat­ter any­more as her voice warmed the night's pro­ceed­ings. The band al­so showed its show­man­ship by chang­ing out­fits dur­ing songs. It al­so would have gained favour from the judges when its four back-up singers reached for cu­a­tros and maracs. Eight bands vied for the crown on the night. NPATT pres­i­dent Neil Mar­cano has been un­der some pres­sure over the last year, with no fixed place of abode for his as­so­ci­a­tion. He was de­light­ed with re­cent de­vel­op­ments as the as­so­ci­a­tion has had its mu­sic copy­right­ed.

The as­so­ci­a­tion was asked ear­ly last year?to va­cate its then res­i­dence at the Ari­ma Pri­or­i­ty Bus Hub. Ari­ma May­or Adri­an Cabralis con­firmed that the Parang As­so­ci­a­tion has been re­lo­cat­ed to the Old Min­istry of Works Build­ing, across from the Ari­ma Velo­drome. Ren­o­va­tions are pend­ing on the build­ing and NPATT will have to wait some time be­fore it can turn the keys to the build­ing. NPATT re­port­ed­ly re­ceived $600,000 in 2009 from the Min­istry of Com­mu­ni­ty De­vel­op­ment Cul­ture and Gen­der Af­fairs to fund this en­tire sea­son. Ju­nior Parang Sec­ondary Schools cham­pi­on Los Ni­nos Del Este, a com­bi­na­tion of Bish­ops Anstey and Trin­i­ty East sec­ondary schools, was the first guest band on the night.

Re­sults

1st place: Los Alum­nos de San Juan

2nd place: Amantes de Par­ran­da

3rd place: La Fa­mil­ia de Car­mona

4th place: Los Ami­gos Can­ta­dores

5th place: Vo­ces Jovenes

6th place: La Fa­mil­ia de Rio Claro

7th place: Re­nac­er

8th place: La Casa de Par­ran­da