Poetry Competition-Seh Sup’m
Root Cause launched the second installment of their weekly poetry series of competition this this time dubbed “Seh Sup’m” on Tuesday 17 th July at Weekenz Bistro.
Coming from various backgrounds and each offering their own styles of delivery, each poet held their own in keeping the audience and judges entertained and interested. These competitors were (in order of appearance) – Graduated Struggler, Joseph Current, Alexis Brown, Chevaun, Racquel Jones, Kesi-Ann Easy and Rohan Phidd. Joseph Current, with his piece entitled “Mr. Gunnah Man” captivated the audience and indeed the judges and was the favourite to win. He therefore walked away with the $5,000 prize and a chance to win $50,000 at the Grand Finals to be held on August 14, 2007. Of special note was the poems delivered by Chevaun entitled “Deadaz”, which though a poem dealing with serious issues, that of sexually transmitted diseases and complications, it had the audience laughing uncontrollably for its entire duration.
Also of special note was Rohan Phidd’s poem entitled “American Dream” which captured the attention of all present dealing with real issues people face in the US chasing the American Dream. His delivery was smooth and well articulated in Jamaican patois, though he has lived in the US most of his life.
The Judges
This week’s judges were Lisa O’Gilvie, Martin Glinn and SAGE of LSX fame. All performed an excellent job, informing the poets and the audience of their expectations and thought processes. Throughout the night it was obvious that they enjoyed themselves, the audience appreciated their role and the poets respected their views. In short, a great time was had by all.
Guest Artistes
The night was blessed with acoustic sets from The Pocket Band from Seattle Washington in the United States and two members of the Airplai band, followed by Dub Poet Abebe Payne and author Kei Miller. I doubt the audience have recovered from the Pocket Band’s beat box, reggae, trumpet Dougie Fresh meet Bob Marley set; the smooth, silky, sultry, seductive sounds of Airplai; the fiery, symbolic, insightful, provocative delivery of Abebe Payne or the thought invoking, critically acclaimed, trail blazing smoothness of Kei Miller. The host, Dub Poet Steppa (a finalist in 2003), enthralled the audience with his style of powerful delivery, with his signature “Listen to Steppa” and inviting the competitors to “Seh Sup’m”. Steppa proved why he is so popular on the poetry scene as he juggled between his host duties and entertaining the audience. DJ Afifa definitely made her presence felt as she provided eclectic ambiance of background music.
New Year, New Style
This year’s competition sees a new format which includes a changing cast of judges who are more interactive, a comfortable set design (done by Abebe Payne) with each act being introduced to the audience with an impromptu interview by the host. All this allowed the audience to get more from the experience and facilitates a smoother and more efficiently run program.
I will keep you informed as the competition continues this Tuesday. Great Work Root Cause!
Comments
Leave a Reply