Harlem, New York - The curtains came down on the 27th International Reggae and World Music Awards (IRAWMA) at the Apollo Theatre in New York City on Sunday last with entertainers, award winners, and even some patrons clamouring on stage, singing Bob Marley's One Love.

It took more than three hours to get to that point, and in the process Trinidadian soca artiste Machel Montano created history, winning the most awards, including the Bob Marley Entertainer of The Year award.
The show started out with Dwight Pinkney collecting the trophy for the Martin's International Award of Honour, while fellow entertainer Freddie McGregor was absent to collect his trophy for the same award.

Ky-Mani Marley collecting his Producer's Respect Award

Ky-Mani Marley then collected his Producer's Respect Award, setting the stage for soca artiste Jaydene to open up the performances of the night. It came as little surprise when Dean Fraser and Mutabaruka took home the IRAWMA trophies for Best Instrumentalist and Best Poet next.

Montano collected the first of his three trophies for the Best Calypso/Soca Entertainer. He soon added Most Outstanding Stage Personality, and the Bob Marley Entertainer of The Year award to his winnings.

As radio personality Richie B's voice announced the nominees for the Best Song, the entire audience was on edge. This was the first category in which top IRAWMA nominee, Tarrus Riley, was up for an award. Then, the screams of the female patrons told everyone that his She's Royal was the winner. The Apollo would soon hear the screams again when Tarrus collected the Best Male Vocalist award, and when he performed.

Ky-Mani wasn't the only Marley who had a good night. His brothers Stephen and Ziggy Marley also took home trophies. Stephen won the awards for Best CD - Mind Control, as well as Songwriter of the Year, and Ziggy with the Marcus Garvey Humanitarian Award, "for charitable efforts through his URGE organisation". They were however not present at the event.

The Strong One, Etana, walked away with the award for Best Female Vocalist, and fellow reggae artiste Queen Ifrika got the nod for Best Female Artiste, out of a field of nominees that included Etana, D'Angel, Lady G, and Macka Diamond.

The late South African entertainer, Lucky Dobe, was posthumusley awarded the Best African Entertainer, while Buju Banton and Freddie McGregor were awarded Most Educational Entertainer and Most Consistent Entertainer respectively.

Beenie Man, who was said to be performing elsewhere, won best Male/DJ Rapper, but Grammy-winning dancehall star Shaggy, was on hand to collect his award when he won Best Music Video - Church Heathen.
Breakaway artiste Sean Kingston, who was also not in attendance, can now claim two IRAWMA nods. His are for Best New Entertainer and Best Crossover Song - Beautiful Girls.

The IRAWMA also honoured music by inducting three industry stalwarts into their Hall of Fame. International singer Billy Ocean, gospel artiste Claudelle Clarke, and long-time recording engineer (think, Bob Marley), were inducted into the IRAWMA Hall of Fame by Illinois Appellate Court Judge, Shelvin Louise Marie Hall and her sister, New York State Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Hall, the USA's first black, sister high court judges.

Also, Awards of Appreciation for Contributions to the Music Industry were given to Herman Hall, publisher of Everybody's Magazine; songstress Winsome Benjamin and Karl Rodney, publisher of Carib News.

Trousers in Denim

Cream of the 'Crop'

Cheeky's World