By Leighton Williams/Chaos, Staff Reporter/Freelance Writer
STAR 'Deejay of the Year' Elephant Man poses with his trophies after THE STAR Awards 2003 held last Tuesday at The Gleaner Company's Roof Gardens, 7 North Street, Downtown Kingston. - Carlington Wilmot /Freelance Photographer
SEAN PAUL and Elephant Man both walked away from the THE STAR Awards 2003 double winners on Tuesday night. The awards were held at The Gleaner's Roof Garden at its offices on North Street, Kingston.
Both deejays won two awards each from the eight categories. Other awardees were Supreme Promotions for 'Stage Show of the Year' in the form of 'Sting 2002', Vybz Kartel, Beres Hammond and Steven 'Lenky' Marsden.
THE STAR Awards ceremony was held for the third straight year, but for the first time since its inception, awards were given based on public opinion. The winners were arrived at based on a STAR-commissioned poll conducted by pollster Don Anderson. The polls were conducted islandwide and solicited the views of patrons at events as well as selectors and other industry players. The previous awards were based on THE WEEKEND STAR Top 40 chart, which was suspended last year due to attempts to corrupt it by external elements.
Elephant Man won awards for'Best Performer' and 'Deejay of the Year' for 2002, while Sean Paul won for 'Best Music Video of the Year' and 'Song of The Year' for the now famous Gimme Di Light.
Gimme Di Light, which is Sean Paul's biggest international hit to date, was accompanied by the well-received video that featured dancing girls such as the frisky 'Pony Tail' performing some catchy moves. Many observers accredited the success of the song to the trendy video.
Additionally, Gimme Di Light has also been touted as initiating the second wave of the dancehall attack on the Billboard charts.
Elephant Man's stage antics during his performances were enough for the artiste to get the nod for 'Best Performer'. However, the deejay dubbed the 'Energy God', was obviously surprised by the award.
"I didn't expect it," he said during his acceptance speech. "I didn't come here expecting an award because I know it's what the fans and media decide. They say I'm the best performer and I thank them and the Almighty for the support as it shows my hard work is paying off."
Beres Hammond got the nod from the public as 'Singer of the Year', while Steven 'Lenky' Marsden's 'Diwali' rhythm was voted 'Rhythm of the Year'. Vybz Kartel received the award for 'Most Improved Artiste for 2002'. The deejay enjoyed some degree of success in the latter part of the year with songs such as New Millennium, Sen On and Most High. He was overjoyed to be rewarded as well.
"It's just a responsible feeling for me as right now there is a lot of pressure on me from my fans to keep up the standards I've set. I'm happy for the award and it shows my work is paying off," he said.
None of the other recipients were present and their awards were collected by their representatives.
Between the presentations were a series of live performances from artistes representing various genres here in Jamaica. The first performance was from Jamaican alternative group Mile High and was quite amazing. After MC Paula-Ann Porter had started off the proceedings with an introduction and Gleaner Financial Controller and Director, Christopher Roberts, STAR Editor Claire Clarke as well as Minister of Tourism Aloun N'dombet Assamba had made short speeches, the group brought new energy to the proceedings with their original Why.
The band, which has experienced another line-up change, had Jason Morris on bass, Paul Chang on frenetic guitar, Andrew 'Pregs' Thompson and a lissom Lydia Bennett on lead. They may have surprised many of those present with what they call 'Jamaican alternative music'. With Rupert Bent and manager Ian Gibson at the mixing board making sure everyone present heard every note, Lydia was an engaging ball of energy as she sang, her vocals and the band's music pulling everyone in.
Their second song, another original called For You, really showed how the band has fused Jamaican music with rock and roll, with a little Middle Eastern spice added for good measure. With deejay Royale adding a dancehall touch with his gravely vocals, he and Lydia lyrically flirted over fast-paced and fantastic Arabian-like riffs provided by Chang, gorgeous work on the skins courtesy of Pregs and a thick bass from Morris. The song came to an unwanted end and received richly deserved applause.
Next up was songstress Della Manley, who performed a cover of Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now and her original, Bittersweet. Her acoustic set was starkly beautiful, if a little shaky at the start as she and Rupert Bent on guitar got in tune.
Later on Tanya Stephens started off a capella before her backing tracks over the Stone Love sound system kicked in, doing her scathing social commentary Turn The Other Cheek. Jana Bent also sang over tracks, doing a nice rendition of Never Seen You Cry from her album Shadow Girl, stalking the small stage in a stunning blue number. Rupert Bent, who was billed to perform with his sister, came to the microphone and joked, hands in the air, "See how good I am?" referring to the fact that although he was not going to play, it was his music those present were hearing.
Wayne Marshall gave a short set, with snippets of his hits such as Overcome and Party Time, which, like all the performances on the night, was well-received.
With Mile High, the biggest star of the night however was deejay Spragga Benz, who started off a capella on Vanity and elicited cheers with lines such as Dem a silicone dem breas'/Sell dem A-S-S/All sorta nastiness before doing a couple of other songs.
The night was closed by the ever-energetic STAR 'Deejay of the Year' Elephant Man, who danced up a storm with Christine Hewitt among others, while performing Higher Level, Online and Pon Di River, Pon Di Bank. He even threw in a hilarious attempt to teach the above-mentioned Christopher Roberts to dance, bringing the evening's live entertainment and the STAR Awards 2003 to an enjoyable end.
