It's the last day of January 2021. We survived. A few persons in Barbados with COVID-19 were not so fortunate. So I want to greet readers from Moldova, Canada, France, Albania, Austria, Greece and Mexico. 👋 So happy you take the time to check out the blog.
This month, Barbados was placed in a bit of tailspin. On December 24, 2020, the island had 47 positive cases for COVID-19 in the state-run isolation facility. These were all imported cases (visitors, Barbadian nationals and citizens). By January 26, 2021, there were 742 active cases of mostly locals - and it was discovered soon after that that the island had the highly transmissible UK strain. From 47 to 742 in four weeks should have been a glaring indicator. That is not my subject for today.
A couple of days ago, the regional female calypsonian "Singing Sandra" died. She sang my female empowerment song from my youth: "Die With My Dignity". I used to sing it loud and proud - you can click on the link to hear it. Later that day, the news broke of the death of the African-American/Afro-Caribbean iconic actress, Cicely Tyson. I was close to heart-broken that day at the loss of these female titans in their respective fields. So I can't say that January began with a lot of "joy". May they rest in peace.
On the bright side, I discovered a new local awards show, Gine On People's Choice Awards, which celebrates Barbados' creatives. Winners are voted for online by the fans and on January 6, 2021, voted began for the 2021 nominees.
The 2020 awards ceremony unearthed some fine local talent. Krisirie was one such. Her music video for Long Time Love was the fans' choice for Music Video of the Year. I can see why it won with its rich, vibrant imagery of Barbados' landscape and rhythmic dancing girls. You can click on the link to see it.
Then there was Leadpipe, who won Soca Artist of the Year, for the Soca Song of the Year, "Sometime", which I featured before so you can click the link for the lyric video.
Though it was not in winner's row, this short animated film is set to one of my fave party calypsos from my youth - so I could not resist sharing the entire animation. It is hilarious. Seriously.
Queen of de Band Short Animated Film [Source: Queen of de Band Film 2019, August 2019]So, how is it that this online product missed me? Well, I'm not that young anymore, so clearly I'm not following what the young people are. With a goal to showcase Barbadian talent in its various forms, whenever I can, I'll let international singer, Shontelle, tell you why she follows Gine On - and if you have not figured it out "gine on" is Barbadian slang for "going on".
Shontelle Gets Why We Do This [Gine On, October 2018]
