JA tops ENCORE grand finals
JAMAICA employees of the Sandals group were in top form at ENCORE Grand Finals held at Sandals Whitehouse European Village and Spa in Westmoreland, on Saturday night.
The 11-year-old talent and modelling competition saw the local contingent stave off their Caribbean colleagues best efforts to secure six of the seven categories that were up for grabs.
Shadeky Mitchell, 22, entertainment coordinator at Beaches Negril, led the haul by winning Best Costume and Best Female Model categories.
“This is awesome. I feel great, especially with the support I was getting from the audience,” Mitchell told the Jamaica Observer.
Having a clear home-court advantage, the cheers and screams from placard-bearing fans ripped through the Le Cabaret Theatre at the mere announcement of Mitchell’s name. And she did not disappoint.
Singer Andre Palmer’s soulful rendition of Ben E King’s I (Who Have Nothing) earned him a standing ovation and had the audience cheering way after he exited the stage.
“I’m very grateful for the opportunity to have participated in this competition, as is opening the doors for me to realise my dreams of becoming a world-class singer and to inspire others,” said the lanky entertainment coordinator at Beaches Grande Riviera.
Shana-Kay Ergas, Best Female Vocalist (Unique Vacations); Jolon Jones, Best Instrumentalist — keyboard, (Sandals Royal Caribbean — Montego Bay); and, Scion Derby, Best Dance Performance (Sandals Montego Bay) rounded out the local contingent’s haul. St Lucia’s Yannick Thomas copped the Best Male Model category.
“My confidence was high. I do some modelling back home and worked on a couple of fashion shows in St Lucia,” he said. “However, next year, I’ll come back for the dance title.”
Joel Ryan, group manager of entertainment at Sandals, had high marks for the competition.
“ENCORE has superceded its purpose by breaking down the walls of xenophobia in the Caribbean using the creative arts. People don’t see countries, people see expression of great joy,” he said.
Conceptualised by Sandals’s creative director, Weston Haughton, the competition is staged throughout the Sandals/ATL Group. This year’s finals saw contestants from Caribbean regions of The Bahamas, St Lucia, Antigua, Grenada, and Turks and Caicos.
