IT WAS an evening of laughter, romance, poetry, prose and song at ' All about Love' at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston on Valentine's Day.
The MC, Arnold Kelly, took the lovers and the few singles smoothly through the evening's line-up.
Each performance left the house anticipating the next. The talented quartet, Tribute, thrilled lovers with Surface's Shower Me With Your Love, and was joined by their director for their next song Let It Be Me. The group Jhedice had couples in the room gazing starry-eyed at each other with All-4-1's I Swear and Gloria Estefan and NSync's Music Of My Heart.
Denise Simpson's sensual poem 'Brown Sugar' only added more the fuel to the fire. One gentleman in audience decided it was time to take things up a notch by surprising his wife of over 18 years with a beautiful rendition of Nat King Cole's Unforgettable. He took a microphone, got down on one knee and sealed the lyrics with a kiss to his blushing bride.
The songbird of the group Jhedice showed off her vocal skills in doing Beyoncé's Dangerously In Love. The lighting effects enhanced her performance beautifully as couples snuggled closer.
And if music was the food of love, C(sharp), the backing band, did an excellent job making sure everyone was filled. Aeon Hoilette on the bass guitar, Randevon Patrick on the drums and Dwayne Campbell and Courick Clarke on keyboards started things off with a smooth jazz piece, My Baby Don't Care No More, complete with a smoke screen, and eased beautifully into Fly Me To The Moon.
REAL MEN
Dub poets Kevin and Robin lauded the women with 'Di Woman' and encouraged the men to be real men with 'Strong Man'. DiMario McDowell serenaded the lovers with old classics like Stevie Wonder's Overjoyed, I Love You Higher and the age-old tribute to women, One In A Million at which point one patron shouted, "Turn off the light!" and one couple stood up to dance.
Love took on a more solemn note as Pastor Wayne Vernon shared briefly from Songs of Solomon, chapter 6 and verse 8. Just when one thought the spirit of love in the room could not get any more intense, the couple of the evening, Robert and Jenieve Bailey, took their place on-stage and opened their set with, Kenny Roger and Dolly Parton's Islands In The Stream and Atlantic Starr's Always.
NO ESCAPING
They held each other as they sang, inspiring others to follow suit. "Love is a powerful thing and when it gets you and gets you good there's no escaping it," Jenieve said squeezing her husband's hand. One person endorsed that when she shouted, "And it feels so good!"
Their performance was interspersed with re-appearances of Denise Simpson with more poetry and Jhedice as well as Hallel Praise with a mime piece. The couple went into songs such as Bob Marley's Is This Love, and Whitney Houston's I Believe In You And Me.
"It comes natural," said Robert, "this is not a performance, this is what we live. God has given us this gift (of love) and we want to share it and touch the lives of others."
There were prizes for the oldest and youngest couple as well as the first couple to be seated at the venue, among others, courtesy of Courts.
All in all, the evening was well put together with no major snags, and the lighting added that extra touch to the activities.
