The 2017 Chutney Queen, Vanita Willie was in the wee hours of Monday morning dethroned, following an exceptional performance by Berbician Bunty Singh who was crowned the new Guyana Chutney King. The competition was hosted at the Leonora Stynthetic Track, West Coast Demerara, which saw a small crowd cheering and supporting their favourite artistes.
The competition which got underway almost three hours after the schedule time to commence saw 10 chutney singers trying to impress the judges and the audience, in their attempt to convince the judges that they are the best in the business. The 2017 Queen was the last to perform but she failed to defend her crown.
Each contestant had a maximum of 10 minutes to perform their tunes backed by the Shakti Strings Orchestra. At the end, Bunty Singh with his tune, “Banwari, Poonwasie and de lokni” was adjudged the winner of the competition. Coming in second was another Berbician, Sasenarine Hitnarayan with “Guyanese Larki”, while the third position was taken by Steven Ramphal as he performed “Mujhe Sangeet se Pyar Hai”.
Coming in fourth was Arijit Singh who sang “Wedding Story”. He was also named the best new comer and bagged an additional G$100,000 to the already G$200,000 he won for placing third. Bunty Singh will receive G$800,000, Hitnarayan will collect G$600,000 and Ramphal will bag G$400,000.
However, after the announcement of the results, some were definitely not pleased with the judges’ decision.
Some thought Ramphal would have stolen the show with his electrifying performance, showcasing the colours of the Golden Arrowhead but soon after, the focus was shifted to Bunty Singh whose stage performance was extraordinary.
Haresh Singh, a veteran in the game, took to the stage with an all Hindi chutney song titled, “Chutney Raja” but the crowd was unmoved. Another performer who took the stage by storm but did not place was Vicadi Singh who do his part with “Meet de Nanny”. While his stage performance was excellently crafted with props and dancers, the crowd just did not react.
The defending Champion put on a show with her tune, “Phool Basiya and She Husband”, but she too was not good enough to get the approval from the judges.
The panel of judges included dancer and choreographer, Roshini Boodhoo-Persaud; Pandit Aditya Persaud and Phoolkumarie.
Meanwhile, before the chutney competition got underway, several dance troupes and dancers took to the stage to showcase their talents. First up, five young men and women went head to head in the individual category.
While some of the performances can be classified as too “vulgar”, the judges opted to go with the more traditional dance routines. After that showdown, Aneesa Narine was awarded the first place followed by Razia Rafeek in the second spot and rounding off the top three was Richard Ramnarine.
The group dance routines were as electrifying as the individual pieces. At the end of the clash, the Berbice Delight dancers were victorious. In the second spot was The Versailles Dance Troup and copping the third place was the Jewan Ka Nritya Dance Troupe.
The show however, was given some flavour by the emcee of the evening, Joel Ganshaam who had the crowd in a frenzy for just being himself. The competition was sponsored by the Social Cohesion Ministry, through its Culture, Youth and Sport Department. (Bhisham Mohamed)
