Reigning International Chutney Soca Monarch Kris “KI” Persad reminded guests at the 2012 103FM Awards of his wizardly skill on the piano when he played a beautiful intro to his song, “Single 4Eva”, at the event on October 30 at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s.

Many of the guests were not initially aware that it was Persad playing the piano, which was placed at the foot of the stage and when they did realise it was him cheers erupted. After several bars the song’s music track kicked in and Persad took the stage accompanied by dancers.

The audience roared again when Machel Montano joined Persad to perform the remixed version of the song that proved the biggest chutney-soca hit of 2012.

In fact, “Single 4Eva” won KI and 3Veni three awards on the night namely: Best Chutney Soca Male, Best Chutney-Soca Collaboration and Song of the Year. Persad was denied the award for People’s Choice, which was claimed by Ria Ramaya and Anil Bheem for the song, “Broken Angel”.

The evening was quite enjoyable with the awards ceremony moving along quickly and smoothly. An aspect of the event was the induction into the 103FM Hall of Fame of seven artistes who have throughout their respective careers achieved exceptional success as well as contributed to the preservation and development of Indo-Trinbagonian culture.

Two of the inductees, Sookdeo Sookhraj (classical singing) and Emmanuel “Zoon” Ramcharan (instrumental {dholak player), were inducted posthumously with family members accepting the awards on their behalf. The other inductees were: Balliram “Bala” Ramroop (classical singing), Rajesh Seenath (Dance), Chote “Sangeet” Saaj (orchestration), the Mansaram Family (special family recognition) and Rawytee Ali (folk art expressions).

In the way of entertainment, the Country Boys Tassa Group greeted the guests on the red carpet, which included President George Maxwell Richards and his wife Dr Jean Ramjohn-Richards, as they arrived. The Shiv Shakti Dancers delivered a performance that saw them dancing to a medley of chutney and chutney-soca, including “Maticoor Night”, in which one of the dancers sent the audience wild with her comical antics.

Violinist Shivanand Maharaj and his group also performed an instrumental medley that incorporated a blend of traditional East Indian music, chutney and pop. An impressive performance was that of Sally Sagram who did a cover version of “Starships” by Nicki Minaj, into which she injected Hindi lyrics.

Accompanied by dancers, Sagram’s vocals were simply beautiful and her rendition actually sounded better than the original singer’s performance of the song. The audience too seemed to enjoy the performance.

For the full article, click here:

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/featured-news/KI__Machel_wow__em_with__Single_4Eva__-176888801.html