GT& T song champs talk about next steps

After months of intense competition in the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph company (GT& T) eight edition of the Jingle and Song Competition, Ryan Hoppie and Bibi Khan were on last Friday announced the winners of the English and Bollywood segments respectively at the company’s BlackBerry headquarters, Brickdam, Georgetown.

This is the first year there was an absence of a grand finale which would normally pull the curtains on highly anticipated competition.
Just before the results were revealed, anxious contestants streamed into the venue with high expectations, and more so, they were optimistic of winning the title.
Patch of surprise
However, at the end, it was Hoppie and Khan who both won Gy$ 1million in cash and brand new Toyota Raum motor cars to the tune of over Gy$ 2 million each. They were in all smiles with a little patch of surprise on their faces when they were announced the winners.
Also in the winner’s row for the English segment were Michael Small, Diana Chapman, Dorian Obbermuller and Natasha Yap, who were awarded with Gy$ 750,000, Gy$ 500,000, Gy$ 250,000 and Gy$ 150,000 respectively.
In the Bollywood segment, Andy Rambarack, Reshma Persaud, Bounty Singh and Devchandra Ramrattan also received Gy$ 750,000, Gy$ 500,000, Gy$ 250,000 and Gy$ 150,000 respectively.
The other contestants received Gy$ 50,000 each. Apart from the monetary prizes, each contestant received a BlackBerry Z10 handset.
Speaking at the historic occasion, Chief Financial Officer Justin Ned told the gathering that from the birth of the competition in 2005, the event has amassed quite a following with a record- breaking voting and attendance at the finale.
He reiterated that GT& T is proud to give back to Guyanese through talent development. “We all have fond recollection of memorable performances by talented Guyanese including Tameka Marshall, Shawn English, Cleon Cadogan, Malika Boyd, Brandon Harding, Celeste David, Rene Chester, Rene Winter, Dallas Forte, Poonam Singh, Esther Osborne, Calais Peterkin, Carlvin Burnette, Nia Allen and Gail Ann Singh,” he added. These were all competitors during the eight years of the competition’s existence.
He added that this year’s competition had more than 1400 auditions across all three counties in Guyana and had segments for Bollywood and English.
“The June 14 finale was quite simply a hit and the success was culminated by a voting frenzy right up to the closing at 23: 59h on June 29. The voters had certainly their say, amassing more than 200,000 SMS votes over less than seven days – more than 1300 votes per hour,” he explained.
Cannot believe
On that note, he thanked the customers, contestants, colleagues and judges for their support during the competition.
Immediately after the announcement, an elated Hoppie told Guyana Times International that he cannot believe that he won, recalling that there were some excellent singers and performers in the competition. He explained that the best moment in the competition for him was being able to make new friends with various personalities. He recalled that when the group round started, it was really a lot of pushing and dedication but more so, hard work.
Hoppie further stated that every round had its highs and lows, but things got more heated as the competition intensified.
Now that the competition is over, he looks forward to working with GT& T to continuously promote the company and music in general. “It will now be a team effort, as we develop young talent,” Hoppie stated.
On the other hand, Khan who was in all smile, said Friday was the happiest day of her life. “I have never been so happy…” She explained she knew she would have won the competition, noting that after her final performance, she was extremely confident.
She described her performance at the finals as solid, one that was the highlight of her musical career.
For the next year, she will be carrying the title as Guyana Star and intends to represent and showcase Guyana 100 per cent.