By Germaine Smith, Gleaner Writer
Deejay Elephant Man performing at last year's Sting. - FILE
THE WORD is out that the Sting Reggae show is on, but with at least one of last year's sponsors gone, organisers Supreme Promotions are in a cautious mood as they try to stage the embattled event.
At a press conference today, Supreme Promotions, the
organisers of the show, will
officially announce plans for this year, despite claims last year that they would not stage the event.
In an interview with The Gleaner, Isaiah Laing, CEO of Supreme Promotions, gave the reasons for their change of heart.
LAUNCHING PAD
For one, the Supreme team believes that the event has become a consistent launching pad for several of the nation's artistes, and they want to continue the trend.
"... One of the main reasons we decided to do it is that the young artistes of today have nothing to look forward to. All the young acts look forward to is making it to the Sting stage," Laing said.
"Sting has become a proving ground, and it is a calendar event that the entertainment fraternity looks forward to, so it is hard to take it out of the dancehall. The show is like a mark post for certain artistes."
The fans of last year's show, however, still harbour painful memories of the hail of bottles pelted at the stage, and the gunshots which rang out signalling the end of the grand event.
For the melée which followed, the team has lost at least one sponsor, but they have kept the support of their chief sponsor, Magnum Tonic Wine.
Magnum's brand manager, Andrea Bowes says her brand will stand behind the event because they are willing to give Sting a chance.
"My take on it is that we just need to give these people a chance to prove themselves," she told The Gleaner. "We are pretty sure that our target audiences identify with Sting and our feeling is that because of an incident you cannot just throw up arms and say it is finished. There are things that can be put in place to ensure things go smoothly. Incidents do happen and we will not be leaving them now."
This enthusiasm was not shared, however, by one of last year's sponsors, GM Challenger. Last year, the company donated a 2004 Chevrolet Aveo as a gate prize. Because of the stampede, the car's windshield, bonnet and trunk were damaged, and missing ticket stubs prevented the promoters from making a fair draw.
Nigel Pagon, the company's local general manager, said last year's bitter sting ensured that they stayed away.
"... We don't want to be associated with anything that will be giving us negative publicity," he stated.
His concerns come not just from Sting, but from other negative attention his company received because of a publicised legal issue with former television personality Christine Hewitt.
SECURITY
Security obviously will be an issue at today's press conference. To address this, Supreme Promotions has planned to implement an entirely new security system.
"This time around, we do not want any bottles at all on the compound. To help with this, we will be implementing an entirely new security plan, completely different than last year," Laing stated.
Assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Arthur 'Stitch' Martin is tipped to head the police team at the event because he is experienced with dealing with large crowds.
ACP Martin confirmed this and pledged to stamp his mark, promising a 'zero tolerance' approach to law reakers.
Another direction that the show will take in regards to the use of homophobic lyrics on stage is that, for the first time in Sting History, artistes have it stipulated in their contracts that the inciting of violence will not be tolerated.
"Everybody will be going there to do their own work. If you want to prove something, prove it to yourself... No two artistes will go up on the stage together, unless it is a combination, no clashes.
"I have put in their contracts that no one is supposed to deejay any lyrics inciting violence against homosexuals, no anti-gay lyrics for this year. They will have to find a different stage for that. Everybody is free to do their own thing so we will not tolerate that or any fighting on stage," said Laing.
Generally, Laing told The Gleaner that his approach to this year's show was more tempered and, even though his team is optimistic it will work, they know they have a great deal of work to do.
"I wouldn't say I am upbeat, I am more cautious than anything else about it. I just do not want any incident this year at all,"
said Laing.
