LIME 2012 - The 10 point (or less) Review

Date: Wednesday 15th February 2011
Location: Hyatt Regency
Cost: Regular - US$200 VIP - US$300

After my first LIME experience in 2011, this was one of my most anticipated fetes for Carnival 2012. It took many months of agonising over what to wear, before I finally decided and made myself a simple dress and clutch the night before! Unlike last year, there would be no outfit changes (yes, my crew and I did outfit changes last year) so I wouldn't need to have a second outfit ready.


1. Food

The Far East tent was serving shrimp, salmon and noodles. The shrimp was FANTASTIC, the lines were not. I was also able to enjoy a yummy corn soup while waiting in the Far East line. There was food at all the tents from the time we got there to the time wee left. We even had a second serving of shrimp later in the night.

Shrimp and salmon from the Far East tent

2. Bars

No wait at all at any of the bars. LOVED the addition of the bar in the food area this year. I had less walking to do than last year fersure.

I had daiquiris from the Angostura Cocktail bar, a shot of Patron (yummy!) and some of the tequila soaked saltprunes as well. Oh, in addition to a Lime Time cocktail when I came in.

Yummy daiquiris

3. Entertainment

In the food area there was also entertainment by Explainer and Denyse Plummer, the latter of whom was well received. 

We missed Nadia and Sass, heard them when we were coming in. After we ate, we headed to stage side and caught some of Karma's performance. I'm not a big fan of Karma though and we took the opportunity to take in the rest of the venue. 

Even though I had seen Kes the Band in the two other fetes that I went to for the season, I still really enjoyed his set. 

Kees performing Stress Away

JW and Blaze entertained us with their Soca Monarch selection "We Time" which I like, thought they would have also performed their past Road March hit "Palance", but they didn't.

I was waiting for the entire night to hear my boy Iwer George perform, but my peeps were tired and we left. Just as we were heading out though, I heard the strains of Iwer as he took the stage :(

4. Crowd

The fete felt a lot more crowded than it was last year and it is definitely a more mature crowd, and everyone came out to have a good time. 

I found that this year more people adhered to the dresscode of white with a touch of lime, but there were still folks who I guess wanted to 'stand out' so they wore whatever they felt like. I also think that the entertainment should stick to the dresscode as well. Only Kes the Band, JW and Blaze did this. (Granted I did not see SASS perform)

5. Bathrooms

I used the bathroom facilities in the hotel which were really clean and well maintained (after all, it is the Hyatt)

6. Ambiance

Nothing, absolutely nothing beats the Hyatt for ambiance. This fete has the perfect location and setting and makes you feel special from the time you walk in. Best fete location in my opinion.

So there you have it, in less than 10 points, the LIME 2012 review. Good fete in a great location, let's hope it doesn't get too much bigger next year.

Soca Monarch Semi-Finals Aftermath - The CNC Edition

After watching the Semi Finals of the International Soca Monarch competition last night, and cracking up with my peeps on Facebook, I thought it may be a good idea to jot down some thoughts that the organisers, entertainers and CNC3 should take note of for next year.

*unfolds paper with list*

Organisers
1. Never ever again have CNC air this show. Whether it be delayed or not. NEVER. Find someone else to give/sell the rights to.

2. Stop picking "entertainers" (I use this term loosely here) just to make up a list. More than HALF the people who were there, should not have been. (Not calling any names this time).

3. Stop the farce of having people draw for positions. Just tell them the day and start time so they know what day to show up.

4. Never ever again, cut off the Mighty Shadow. EVER. Penalise him if need be, but don't cut him off. That is just damn disrespectful to a performer of his caliber.

CNC
1. There's a little something called branding.This was supposed to be in International show! Hang up a little banner with your name/logo/something so people when they tune in will see who airing the show...or maybe you all were too shame.

2. Hosts should know what going on.
They should know who coming up next without having to look at a mash up fold up piece of paper.
They should look like they have proper credentials and not be in front a fence looking like they didn't get their media passes.
They should have an accent that I can identify with as a Trinidadian watching the show.
They should not get distracted by half naked performers Lil Kim inspired outfits. (im just saying)

And finally...

ENTERTAINERS

1. Stop using the following phrases immediately:
"Low"
"Gimme a one drop"
"Anybody from [insert country/city here]"
"Lemme see yuh hand in de air!" and/or "Put yuh two hand in de air"

2. Stop shouting. Sing.

3. Stop singing over tracks. Just sing.

4. Use your backup dancers and props wisely. Sometimes they are really unnecessary. You don't need folding tables from Pricesmart for the girls to wine up on unless your song is about shopping by Pricesmart. (Remember the year Benjai placed third in the finals with NO props?)

5. Pay those winer girls and backup dancers well for embarrassing themselves so soundly in front of thousands.

and most importantly entertainers...

6. STOP TOTING. Nobody came to see or hear you tote. Nobody care. All we want to do is enjoy your performance and wine down low.

K2K for Carnival 2K12!

So it is official! I have jumped ship!
I am no longer in Bliss, my costume has been sold and I am now playing mas with K2K.

K2K launched at Saute Trinbago and from the time I laid my eyes on the gorgoues aubergine skirt of Saraswati I, I fell head over heels in love. I went along with my girlfriends to register and now I am over excited for Carnival 2012!

K2K Alliance & Partners Inc. was founded by twin sisters, Kathy and Karen Norman on January 1st, 2010. At its core, the Company acts as a medium to explore creative work, specifically Carnival “mas” design. K2K embraces artists, performers and craftspeople that share our dream that the mas-man is a storyteller and the masquerader is the actor who brings the story to life.

 You can read more about K2K here.

Yeah! - The 10 point (or less) review

Well since allyuh enjoyed the condensed 10point review that last time I figure I'll do a next one.

So at the 99th hour... I ended up with a Hyper Inclusive ticket to Island People's Yeah! at O2 Park. (Remember I said I wasn't going anywhere else for the rest of the season right?). Chanting my usual mantra of "But I have NOTHING to wear!" I headed to Yufe's Saturday morning, channelled my inner Anya and created a fab mini dress a mere two hours before the fete! And hear nah...de dress look pretty decent if I do say so myself and I do *pats self on back*

This was another fete that I decided not to walk with my camera. But this time though, it was because I couldn't find the cable for my camera to transfer my pics and the camera have no more room.

Okay, here's the 10 point review.

1. Layout
I can only speak for the layout in the Hyper Inclusive as I did not venture in the Inclusive side of the fete. The layout was good. My only observation was the main bar on the slope could be dangerous if navigating with heels and some drinks in yuh head. The elevated sponsor area gave a great view of the stage and the crowd.

2. Food
I had a plate (or two, maybe three, I wasn't counting) of the sushi and that was really good. Best dish of the night. I also tried Flair Restaurant's beef, with the pineapple salsa...yummy! I also did take a taste of the stewed oxtail from Mango's and that was tasty as well.

3. Drink
Now I am not a drinker by any means. My usual fete drink of choice is Coke on the rocks, I MAY have the occasional vodka and orange juice or Bailey's and das about it. However, the people at Fair Restaurant inveigled me into trying a drink of theirs called "Canal Water". I ended up having about 6 of those sample cups of canal water. Hear nah...dat was the best drink of the night oui!

4. Performances
Denise Belfon - a bit tedious.

JW and Blaze - I love me some JW and Blaze, and to me they brought the low key vibe up a few notches. (JW and Blaze ah waiting for the Power Soca song...allyuh stickin! )

Kes the Band -  Enjoyed his performance from start to finish! He has a great repertoire this year, he sang my favorite song from him this year "Stress Away", but all of his songs got a reaction from the crowd.

Swappi -  I love love love Swappi! He sang the tune that brings out my inner jammette, Bubble on a DJ, as well as 4D Gyal and Bucket. I love them ALL!

Machel Montano - I think Machel could give his girls a rest and bring back the Powerpuff girls yes. His dancers did give their usual energetic performance though. Machel seems intent on pushing "Pump Yuh Flag" for Road March, for me though...it kinda meh. I am certainly not feeling it. Machel I think you should go with Revelling as your Road March pic.

Patrice to me was underwhelming, loved her catsuit, did not like her dancers though...I could do without them. And was it just me or did Patrice forget the words to "I Am Soca"?

Enjoyed Farmer Nappy's performance.

5. Crowd - The crowd was REAL low key for the most part. Especially when it came to the newer songs, it seems to me that they were unfamiliar as they were more responsive to songs from previous years. The vibes were me and my crew were liming was real hype though. We had a time.

6. Bathrooms - Up to now I eh find the Hyper Inclusive bathrooms eh IP. The cleaning staff  send meh ALL OVER de place. I ended up using the facilities in the Inclusive area and that was up to par.

Other than a small incident with one of the security guards, I enjoyed this fete, and overall I would give this fete 4 wine out of 5.

Soca in Moka 13 - The 10point review

Who: Soca in Moka
What: All-Inclusive
Where: Trinity College, Moka. Maraval
When: Sunday 8th January 2012
Cost: $600 (last year $550)


I told Saucy that I wasn't going to be doing any review this year yuh know. I went to Moka with my two hand swinging...no camera, no Blackberry, nothing, which I thought was a good idea given all the rain and thing. But wouldn't you know it...this would be the year Moka made some changes to their layout...Steups.

Anyhoo...I still don't really feel like doing a full review, so here is Soca in Moka in 10 points (or less) :

1. Layout - The most popular food has always been the Chinese food, this year that booth was elevated (dem stairs was lil rickety eh Moka fix dat nah) and was under two tents this year. That did not make the lines any shorter. Line. for. days!

Uncle Max booth was also elevated, not that he was in there for any length of time, cause he's a man like to be in the middle of the crowd with his security jostling paying patrons.

2. Roy Cape - Blaxx cut his ras and say he was going to talk less, but didn't, they now have Ricardo Dru on the frontline, he wasn't too bad and Rita Jones is an even bigger dragalicious mess than she was last year. (Matter of fact that's an insult to the drag queens I've seen yes. My apologies queens!) She needs an intervention ASAP! Somebody...anybody...PLEASE HELP HER! Yes Roy Cape, ah glad allyuh realise people wasn't feeling allyuh non-soca set and allyuh went back to the soca.

3. Kerwin Du Bois - Bachannalist. Big Tune. My choice for Groovy Soca Monarch HANDS DOWN! (Sorry Mr. Fete, but I'm a bachannalist to meh heart, just read de blog to see why)

4. Dil-E-Nadan - *yawn* unimpressed for a second or is it third (?) year running. The best part of DEN's performance was when Ronnie Mc Intosh came out and mash up de place.

5. Ronnie Mc Intosh - Yes, his performance was so good he get his own bullet point here! Ronnie performed  How It Go Look, Ent and On The Road in his trademark fedora and a white track suit and MASH UP DE PLACE! Like it was 1998 all over again oui! From front to back and all the side of the fete was jumping up with dey umbrellas in the air. Well done Ronnie!

6. Rain - This was the first year EVER in my 12 years of going to this fete that rain fell. When we got the fete around 5:45pm, the place was good empty eh. So I say well yes, people eh coming this year ah go have room to move. Eh heh? Well look how by 8:00pm place pack like is nobody business, people come with dey umbrellas to the fete (not me eh) and jamming, jumping and wininig with dey umbrella in hand. I party in  de rain and dat made the fete even sweeter for me. Mind you on Monday I reach to work feeling lil sniffly and real mash up eh.

So das it really, Soca in Moka in 10 points or less. My low point for the night was losing a gorgeous bling ring my mom bought me for Christmas :( I took it off in the Andy Loos to wash my hands and forgot it by the sink, time I realised and went back, some bandit done ninja the damn ring. Bastards.

Soca in Moka is the only fete I have planned/budgeted to go to. If anything else drop in my lap though *hint hint* I'll be ready and more than willing to go!

(Photo: Triniscene.com)

TRIBE - Take Me To...

Departure date: Saturday 23^rd July 2011

Flight cost: $260.00 (free rum, beer and vodka)

It was 10:00pm and I was running late for my flight. The departure time was set for 11:00pm and I didn’t want to be late and miss the media launch of TRIBE’s 2012 presentation, “Take Me To”.

As I made my way to the gateway with my luggage (camera), I was told I had to board at another gate. Now 10:20pm, I had to hustle to the next gate, where they checked my ticket, id and gave me my boarding pass. The flight was PACKED! I thought it was a Dash 8, but it was more like an Airbus.

Anyhoo, I eh think ah could do a whole review using flight and plane analogies so let’s get down to it. After some drama with getting a special wristband which would allow me to get behind the scenes, I finally made it backstage to the media launch.

As you would have already noticed if you watched Triniscene’s live feed, this year things were a bit different. Saucy did live commentary, while I did the tweeting for TS and Saucy, PLUS Saucy had a photog stageside shooting the pics that would be on the blog. Yes, the team has grown! All we need now is a drinks runner, a back and foot massager, and some sexy ass men fanning us and we good to go!

So we setup stageside and patiently await the media launch of the costumes.

The launch finally starts (not on time) and we are introduced to the flight team, Monique, Lana, Kristy, Ruanna and the other ladies of TRIBE. We were then introduced to the captain of TRIBE himself, Mr. Dean Akin. Dean made some very interesting points, some of which you can read here. The costumes were shown, pics were taken and uploaded but held back until the actual launch.

There was a brief lull in between the media launch, during which we had to go under our tent backstage and set up for the main launch. It was during this lull, I was able to get some shots of my own and see some of the costumes close up.

South Beach

Gorgeous colour combo. If you didn’t play in Charmeuse in 2010, here’s your chance. I love the gold swirl elements on the string...err...belt and the cage bra's jeweled detail is very nice. I also really like the arm pieces.

Rio

One of the comments I heard was, "Since when Big Bird=Rio?" A pretty decent costume in yellow and gold, but I expected more for Rio. The detail on the bra and belt is very nice. The wrist accessories are familiar to me.

St. Tropez

That individual costume looks SO very familiar to me, but I just can't put my finger on it. And I'm not just talking about its resemblance to Habotai. I think this costume is just way too much pink for my taste. But, still pretty.

Johannesburg

I love this section, and I doh care who says otherwise. The most I would do is add some pheasants to that collar and I would be done. I spoke with the designer and he said there is no backline, no frontline as he is just keeping it simple this year. I like the simplicity, although I would like to see a bikini option.

Vegas

Peach for Vegas is not what I had envisioned. Red to me, says Vegas. Colour aside, this costume is another pleasant one. Not in love with that torso waist belt thingy. The individual has no belt, just a decorated panty.

Fiji

Another beautiful colour combination in a very nekkid package. (I won’t be surprised if photobucket removes my pics for indecency) I like the way the arm pieces attached to the headpiece. Great feature. Very skimpy.

Dubai

Gorgeous colour combo. If you didn’t play in Charmeuse...oh no wait...this isn't South Beach. I cannot beleive TRIBE did two of the same colour combos in the band. It just seems lazy to me. That said, I do love the coque feather tail piece....very cute look, though it is a wine blocker.

Cyprus

Yes it is possible for a costume to be even more naked than Fiji. Doh let the backpack fool you! Take off that backpack and the three string is revealed in all its glory! The model's body for the what I assume is the frontline, was reedonculous! The model for the individual, I LOVED how she moved that costume. Very nice.

Santorini

*yawn* If Osage of 2010 and Amazon of 2011 had a baby, it would be called Santorini. I real not getting the choice of colour for this section which is supposed to represent a city in Greece. And the Mastana Bahar hand thingies, are way too stiff and awkward looking.

Cancun

I love a blue costume. I love this one too, and would have played in it, if I wanted to relive Amazon, Amazonia and Pele individuals from this year. The backline is pretty.

Manhattan

A simple safe costume. I like the collar. But it looks like some extra material from Ice Warriors was used here.

Ibiza

A visually stunning costume, but again very familiar elements from Titans and Archaen Odyssey. I like the shape of the headpiece, the wristpieces and the leg pieces, but it does give the costume a busy look.

Males

All the males were grouped together, and I will review them as such...they failed. Epically. With the exception of Dubai's individual, Ibiza, and Johannesburg, the male costumes are fine for masqueraders who "just want a board shorts and a wristband", which I guess most guys do.

I did not even notice that no backlines costumes were shown until someone mentioned it on twitter. I have never been to a band launch where that decision (deliberate or not) was made.

After the costumes Kes took the stage and performed a fantastic set. While we set the pics to upload we went stageside and had a time!

Overall TRIBE's costumes are pretty.

Pretty standard.

Pretty naked.

While I don't expect a 100% adherence to the theme, I did expect a lot more. There was no WOW factor this year, just quite a few recycled ideas, elements and materials. What I really loved was the flight attendant uniforms...those were uber cute!

Despite all the criticism begin thrown at them for too much feathers, not enough belts however, we all know that TRIBE will still sellout within minutes of them opening up their registration.

Check out my backstage pics on photobucket HERE.