Krista Henry, Staff Reporter
Left: Soca artiste Alison Hinds challenges a patron to 'test her wine' during Supreme Ventures Jamaica Carnival 'Carnival Countdown', held at Richmond Estate, Priory, St Ann, on Sunday. Right: Destra.
The soca queens of Barbados and Trinidad, Alison Hinds and Destra Garcia, respectively, closed Jamaica carnival's STAR-sponsored Carnival Countdown with a bang last Sunday night at Richmond Estate in Priory St Ann.
Billed as a clash to determine Jamaica's soca queen, the two artistes were quick to dispute a clash singing only praises for each other.
Hinds was first to take the stage to an overwhelming crowd response after midnight. She immediately went for a wining vibe and asked the women to "throw your man on di ground and show me how yuh does wuk up!" She also performed Let Me See The Bad Man Crew but soon went back to proclaiming It's Time to Wuk Up before singing Love and Unity.
Happy crowd
The crowd was happily joining in her performance with hands raised in the air, jumping up and down.
Hinds addressed the matter of the 'clash'. "There is no clash, it's me and Destra on di stage and we come to entertain," Hinds declared before singing Ragamuffin.
Adept at getting the crowd to join in, she had the audience following her instructions while she sang Wining Never Stop before inviting guest performer DJ Bambino, aka Trever Off Key, on stage for their remix of One Republic's Apologise.
Bambino and Alison demonstrated a wine as Bambino asked the crowd, "Yuh think she can roll it?" to which they answered in the affirmative. Several other songs followed, including Thunda from her new album.
Inviting a strapping young man from the crowd for a wining session, Hinds showed off the man's six pack and instructed him to go into first gear for slow wining.
She asked for another man to come on stage and, in an effort to be first up, several men climbed over each other to reach onstage where she asked them to show their skills. Each flopped.
"If he can't wine by himself he can't wine wid me," the soca artiste declared.
After an hour, Alison closed off an energetic set making way for a band change and ultimately Destra.
Destra stormed on with Hands in Di Air as she chastised all the patrons not being nimble enough.
"I hear di carnival posse behave worse than di bacchanal posse."
Destra was devastating as usual with songs such as Max It Up, Bonnie and Clyde before commenting: "There is no competition wid Alison and me. She is a founder of this business in terms of music. I've been watching her since I was a child. She is a queen forever, she is in her own space and I'm in my own space."
The vibe soon improved as Destra too invited a man onstage to dance to her Ride On Di Saddle; she invited him to test his wine on her three back-up dancers.
The young man proved his wining skills when he brought Destra's back-up dancer to the ground.
"Yuh take down one of my girls we can't have that, I'm gonna take yuh down," Destra warned.
Before the soca queens, Carnival Countdown was pure energy with Iwer George in his usual form with a stellar performance. Biggie Irie only did his Nah Going Home before exiting and Peter Ram and TC Lodge barely moved the crowd as much as everyone else.
Byron Lee and the Dragonnaires performed twice with their usual energy, having the crowd in fits during the STAR Tiney Winey competition. Without a doubt, Carnival Countdown had the spirit of carnival flying high in St Ann.
Neila Forbes (left), the winner of THE STAR Tiney Winey Contest, accepts her prize from Terry Wilson, marketing officer at The Gleaner Company.
