Grammy sends tribute to Whitney
LL Cool J, host of the 54th annual Grammy Awards, opened the show by saying a prayer, thanking the Lord for allowing the world a glimpse of Whitney Houston.
Then he showed what he termed "a great Grammy moment". The television screens showed a clip of Whitney Houston singing. The crowd at the Grammys went crazy.
The awards had shifted into a Whitney Houston memorial, where attendees celebrated the pop star and the show hurriedly assembled a tribute featuring Jennifer Hudson.
Grammy show producer Ken Ehrlich turned to Hudson, the actress and 'American Idol' finalist, last night after the 48-year-old Houston was found dead in her hotel room at the Beverly Hills Hilton. Ehrlich said there wasn't enough time for a "full-blown tribute", but that the show had to "recognise Whitney's remarkable contribution to music fans in general".
With just hours to prepare a fitting tribute, the Grammys had to act quickly.
"Musicians, by nature, improvise," said Neil Portnow, president of the Recording Academy, on the red carpet before the show. Portnow said the tribute was the result of hours of frantic phone calls in the aftermath of Houston's death.
The vibe of the awards was altered from simple party to a kind of wake of one of music's most beloved stars. Houston won six Grammys in her career and had been expected to perform at the pre-awards gala Saturday night thrown by music impresario Clive Davis.
"Whenever there's tragedy, family pulls together - and this is my family," said producer Jimmy Jam. "There's going to a little bit of everything tonight, and that's how the emotions should be."
"I'm glad we're all together to grieve together," said Bonnie Raitt.
For those who were particularly close to Houston, the evening was a difficult one. Just days before, last Thursday, R&B singer Kelly Price performed a duet of Yes, Jesus Loves Me with Houston at a pre-Grammy celebration.
"I'm here," said an emotional Price, a friend and a frequent collaborator with Houston. "She gave the genre of R&B music a gift that can never be denied."
The night was in many ways transformed into one dedicated to Houston, with heartfelt reaction from across genres.
"Few people will ever touch the world as much as Whitney Houston," said country star Billy Ray Cyrus.
Musicians who grew up in the 1980s recognised the loss of a soundtrack to their youth. R&B singer Ledisi burst into a warm, impromptu rendition of Houston's How Will I Know on the red carpet.
"It's a very sombre tone tonight at the Grammys because we lost our hero," R&B singer Kelly Rowland told E! "My heart is heavy."
Whitney Houston: Stars remember Grammy-winning singer
Tributes and messages of condolence poured in Sunday after word spread of the death in Hollywood on Feb. 11, 2012, of Grammy-winning pop singer and actress Whitney Houston.
Authorities say the 48-year-old Houston died Saturday at a Beverly Hills, Calif., hotel. No cause of death has been given.
At the Newark church, where Whitney Houston got her start, messages of sympathy and floral tributes were tied to a fence post. The pastor asked for strength for Houston's family.
Even in Jerusalem , Israel's Black Hebrew community mourned the singer who famously visited them in 2003.
Ben Ammi Ben-Israel, the leader of the 2,500-strong group of vegan polygamists, told Channel 2 TV Sunday that he considered Houston his "spiritual daughter."
Houston's ex-husband, singer Bobby Brown, offered his tribute while performing a show in Southaven, Miss., hours after her death.
"First of all, I want to tell you that I love you all," he said. "Second, I would like to say, I love you Whitney. The hardest thing for me to do is to come on this stage."
The Reverend Jesse Jackson says Whitney Houston was one of the outstanding voices of our time.
The Chicago civil-rights leader said yesterday that he was praying for her family, including Houston's gospel singer mother, Cissy Houston.
Jackson says there's a void in the music world.
Whitney Houston died Saturday on the eve of the Grammy Awards. She had been expected to attend a pre-Grammy gala but was found dead hours before the event. Paramedics attempted to revive Houston, but were unsuccessful. She was 48.
Houston's publicist says the cause of death is unknown.
Fay-Ann cries at RAMA
SLUMPED to the stage with tears streaming down her face, Fay-Ann Lyons-Alvarez was caught in a moment of total pride and euphoria, overcome with emotion, she wiped away tears on Saturday night at the inaugural Rama fete held at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.
With her adoring fans chanting her name repeatedly, Fay-Ann was brought back on stage for a third encore to sing her Road March contender “Miss Behave”. But it was all too much for the former Soca Monarch champion who dropped to her knees and covered her face.
Speaking to Newsday after, Fay-Ann explained her emotional moment. “It was just touching to see that the crowd was so into what you are doing. It was just amazing. It reminded me of watching my dad (Superblue) as a young girl and hearing the crowd react to him. So to have that happen to me was astonishing,” the soca diva said.
Questioned whether it was the most love she received from a crowd this season, Fay-Ann noted that the reaction was just a result of the crowd’s response and the electric Rama atmosphere coinciding.
Indeed, Rama proved to be one of the biggest events for Carnival 2012 with almost the entire local soca cast present. Bunji Garlin and his Asylum band hit the stage at about 12.30 am yesterday and had the crowd in a frenzy with his Road March contender “Born Ready”. Donning a black suit, Bunji confirmed that he is ready for the Carnival season and had the crowd jumping and following his every instruction. Drawing from his extensive repertoire, Bunji dropped hit after hit including “Blaze the Fire” and “Bomb Song” to have the massive Rama crowd eating out of his hands.
Following the Asylum band was a tough act to follow but with Machel Montano’s resume he was the right man for the job. Opening with last year’s Soca Monarch winner “Advantage”, Machel had patrons in VIP and general admission behaving in similar fashion. He then delved into his 2012 hits including “Pump Yuh Flag” which had fans waving hands, cups, rags and whatever else they could thrust into the air. A woman even waved what looked like a bra.
Machel then switched to a groovy mood, belting out some of this year’s hits like “Bottle of Rum” and “On the Avenue”. The infectious music took its toll on a couple females in front the stage who perched themselves on top the barricading railing and began gyrating nonchalantly to “Bend Over”.
Also performing with the HD band was Farmer Nappy, Patrice Roberts and Kerwyn Du Bois who had a good response to his Groovy hit “Bachaanalist”.
Earlier, Kes the Band and their lead singer Kees Dieffenthaller put in a powerful performance to set the stage for the other acts. Vowing to defend his Groovy Monarch, Kees advised the crowd to dance their “Stress Away” and wine with “Precision”. Closing with “Wotless”, Kees showed that last year’s bumper season was no fluke and he is a real threat to retain his crown.
Meanwhile, Benjai used the occasion to ask for advice from the thousands of soca lovers at Rama. Unsure about what to sing for Friday’s Soca Monarch finals, Benjai is now certain to perform “People’s Champion” which has been slowly gathering momentum.
Coolers were noticeably absent at Rama with patrons storing their drinks in buckets instead. Bottles were on the floor and buckets in the air when Swappi hit the stage, however, to sing his smash hit “Bucket”. Other top artistes performing on the night were Shal Marshall, Super Jigga TC and Blaxx.
NEWSDAY
KI, Chutney Soca king over Rikki Jai
RISING chutney star Kris Vishal “KI” Persad not only scaled the Mt Everest of chutney competitions when on Saturday he dethroned veteran Rikki Jai, for the Chutney Soca Monarch crown, but he also created history by being the youngest champ, at age 26.
Thank you so much. I have nothing but thanks and love to all of my fans who voted for me and made this possible,” an exhausted Persad said yesterday at his El Socorro home where he returned at 5 am after the competition.
“I am truly humbled and it is a dream come true,” Persad said. For the competition, votes sent in by supporters via cellular phone text messaging, replaced the need for judges and Persad, singing his runaway hit “Single Forever”, was crowned king by a massive margin of 36,737 votes to second-place winner and former chutney soca monarch Rikki Jai’s 32,781.
Asked how he felt being a first time winner, Persad responded: “I really am a first time winner aren’t I? I think the biggest thing right now is that it hasn’t settled in yet. Right now I’m still waiting for it to hit.
“But I can say that it just feels nice to know that after all the sacrifices and hard work like leaving your family, leaving your friends, leaving your relationships — and hence the inspiration for my song “Single Forever” — so many things you have to sacrifice in life just to get ahead, it has paid-off for me. I promise my fans that I will represent them and this country to the max,” Persad said.
Asked what he thought made the song stand out as opposed to the other offerings from his competitors on Saturday night, Persad said, “Single forever is simply a song that speaks for itself whether you in a relationship and especially if you are out of one. And everyone loved it because of that.”
“As for the other contestants, all I can say is that Rikki Jai is a very talented artiste and so too were the other finalists and I am proud to share the stage with them, but in the end the song spoke for itself, and I came out and did my best, and the people loved it.”
For his effort, Persad took home the $1 million first prize at the 2012 Lotto Plus Chutney Soca Monarch held at the Queen’s Park Oval.
An estimated crowd of 12,000 occupied the Oval from as early 6 pm with the show ending at 3 am yesterday. Persad delivered his hit song accompanied by the bmobile Shiv Shakti Performers at 1.30 am.
Amidst fireworks he stood on a ten-foot pedestal on stage, indicating he is above the rest of singers. He ended his song by adding new lines in reply to Jai’s song, ‘She want Johnny Walker’. “He should do like Johnny walker and keep walking,” Persad sang in his final verse. The crowd roared its approval.
He is now setting his sights on the Groovy Soca Monarch on “Fantastic Friday,” having qualified for the finals at the National Stadium in Port-of-Spain. KI is the only chutney soca act to make it to the finals of this competition this year.
Jai who created history by wining $2 million in the 2011 edition at Skinner’s Park, San Fernando, came on stage just after midnight. He was accompanied by Soca star Destra Garcia who told the crowds she is Soca and Jai is Chutney. Placing third was Rick Ramoutar who sang, “I Wish I was Single to Mingle”.
Nigel Salickram who sang “Blood”, placed fourth. Out of the the five female competitors Artie Butkoon scored the highest with her song, “Mousie Break Away” to place fifth. Out of three Guyanese to enter the competition, Terry Gajraj who sang “Grease Gun” score the highest among the Guyanese, placing sixth.
His fellow Guyanese Fiona came in at the seventh position with her song “Jiggle your Belly”. New York-based Sassy Ramoutar placed eighth with “Rude and Sweet” while Sally Sagram placed ninth with “Put Some Love on Me”. Guyana’s Monarch Haresh Singh placed tenth doing “Ajee and Ajaa”. Comedian, Kenneth Supersad was excellent in delivering his tune, “One Caribbean People”. Former Chutney Monarchs Adesh Samaroo who sang “Drunk Man Doh Lie” and Heeralal Rampartap who did “Jealous Man” failed to make it to the top ten. Lalchan Babwah was accompanied by Drupatie Ramgoonai to do the song “One Thirty”.
This show produced by Southex Promotions was moved from south to the Oval to accommodate the tourists and fans from north Trinidad. According to the chief coordinator of the event, George Singh, the show “was a success” and he is looking forward for a bigger and better production in 2013 at the same venue. At midnight, PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar joined Guyana’s Culture Minister Dr Frank Anthony and TT’s Culture Minister Winston Peters on the main stage to bring greetings.
Update of PRC Backlog and Delayed Caseworking for new BOTC Naturalisation and Registration Applications
The general public will recall that the Ministry of Border Control and Labour temporarily suspended the receipt and processing of all new applications for Permanent Resident Certificates on February 26, 2010. The Ministry is pleased to confirm that through the dedication and hard work of staff in the PRC Unit, the backlog has been cleared however, the suspension is likely to remain in effect until after the public consultation on the pathway to citizenship has concluded and new legislation for granting Permanent Resident Certificates is enacted.
In August last year the Consultative Forum was advised of the existence of a backlog of over 1600 outstanding applications for British Overseas Territory Citizenship by naturalisation or registration which had built up through other stages in the process over a long period of time. It is important that these applications be processed therefore, the case working team in the PRC Unit will now devote their full attention to processing them.
In light of the above, notice is hereby given that naturalisation and registration applications that are received on or after Monday, February 13, 2012 will not be assessed until after cases that have been pending for many years are cleared. Potential applicants are accordingly encouraged not to apply until further announcements are made about the lifting of the suspension. Applications received after Monday, February 13, 2012 will not be catalogued.
The Ministry of Border Control and Labour will provide further updates on timing for consideration of cases in due course.
LOCAL CEO CALLED TO REGIONAL BOARD
Digicel TCI CEO E. Jay Saunders has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organization (CANTO) at its recent Annual General Meeting (AGM) in St. Maarten.
Under the theme “Accelerating the Broadband experience in the Caribbean-Transforming the way we live”, Saunders was nominated and accepted.
“I am honored to be a part of the CANTO board. It is a very prestigious board, made up of very talented and seasoned telecommunications and ICT executives who collectively have more than 100 years of telecommunications and ICT experience between them, and who represent some of the largest telecommunications and ICT companies in the region. As the youngest member of the Board, I am excited about being able to learn from my fellow Board members,” Saunders.
CANTO, consists of 107 members from 35 countries, and serves as a major trade association in the telecommunications sector, working together to further agendas and policy strategies relevant to the member counties.
Saunders was the only member newly elected to the board. Re-Elected members include: Linus Rogers, TSTT (Trinidad & Tobago); Julian Wilkins, Digicel Trinidad & Tobago; Lawrence McNaughton, Cable & Wireless Grenada; Lyrio Gomez, UTS (Curacao) and Davidson Charles, Cable & Wireless Antigua. Mr. Charles was also re-elected as Treasurer.
The other directors, Chairman, Dirk Currie, TELESUR (Suriname), Vice Chair, Karen Bevans, BTL (Belize) and Helma Etnel, Telem (St. Maarten) continue to serve as directors.
Saunders previously held a position as the chairman of the CANTO Marketing committee, and hosted a meeting of the Board of Directors in the Turks and Caicos in June 2010.
Turks and Caicos Tourism Arrivals Highlights Growth
The Turks and Caicos Islands tourism arrivals for 2011 surpassed the 1 million mark and grew to an all time high in the country’s history.
Since the destination has begun keeping records of tourism arrivals from the 1980’s, the Turks and Caicos have reached a pinnacle in the growth of the nation’s top industry. The overall total arrivals for the past year was 1, 009,720 which draws on both cruise arrivals and land base arrivals to the country. When broken down separately, cruise arrivals accounted for 655,497 and land base arrivals accounted for some 354, 223 totalling in the aforementioned surpassed 1 million mark.
The destination continues to draw on its major source market, the United States with Canada in second place. The United States continues its dominance in arrivals to the destination due in part to major airlift to the destination that increased in 2011, namely JetBlue from New York and Continental from New Jersey. The Tourist Board expects the Canadian market to grow even more in 2012 with the addition of the new in season direct flight from the eastern Canadian city of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The Tourist Board in the collaboration with the Turks and Caicos Hotel and Tourism Association (TCHTA and the Turks and Caicos Islands Airport Authority (TCIAA) and the Grand Turk Cruise Center (GTCC) marked the occasion of the arrival of the 1 millionth and the 1 millionth and 1 arrival at both the Providenciales International Airport and the Carnival Cruise Center on December 31st 2011. The lucky winner in Grand Turk was awarded return vacation tickets sponsored by JetBlue and accommodations sponsored by the Tourist Board and the TCHTA. The winners on Providenciales were awarded a 7 day vacation back to the destination with airfare provided by JetBlue as well and accommodations sponsored by the Tourist Board and the TCHTA.
In recognition of this accomplishment, the Director of Tourism, Ralph Higgs on reviewing the official statistics report said “The islands remain to shine through a number of factors that would have diverted it from growth but these numbers indicated not only good news for the country and the industry but it also represents the potential for more growth in the months and years ahead.” Higgs further added, “Surpassing the 1 million mark is a major accomplishment for all of us, our partners and stakeholders in the industry and while we are pleased and proud we are also cognizant of the work that lies ahead.”
Chairman of the Turks and Caicos Tourist Board, Dr. Hubert Fulford’ said that “the destination and its people, partners in both public and private sectors should be proud of this milestone.” He further added that “as a country we must continue working to win and keep these numbers up and growing.”
Association Executive of the TCHTA, Mrs. Stacy Cox on receiving the arrival statistics for 2011 said “2011 was indeed a very good year for the tourism industry. The Hotel & Tourism Association is very happy to see the record-breaking number of arrivals to the island over the last two years. Our joint efforts with the Tourist Board are bearing fruit and signify the importance of working closely on the marketing of our islands. Promotions coupled with the increased airlift which we have garnered from our major source markets last year, should result in further increases over the next few years. We have a very strong brand but must not "rest on our laurels". We have to ensure that the Turks & Caicos Islands continue to be at the top of mind of travelers when they are thinking about booking a vacation. There is still work to be done, and as the private sector we will continue to play our role in the development and maintenance of a strong product so that we can offer visitors an experience like no other. We look forward to working even closer with the tourist board and the government in 2012.”
Lime has given the gift of magic to the TCI.
In release sent to RTC News Lime is offering to help its local and faithful customers to help cope with the harsh economic times, LIME has introduced an offer that magically extends the talk time for participating customers.
Magic Minutes, as the offer is called, started on January 24, 2012 in the Turks & Caicos Islands, gives each LIME customer who talks on the LIME prepaid mobile network for 5 minutes an extra 25 minutes and, like magic, they rack up significant savings immediately.
Regional Vice President, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Grace Silvera points out that the Magic Minutes offer is all about delivering the best prices to customers. “Talking is a normal part of everyday life and business and if customers can automatically get more talk time and realise an immediate saving we know we would have delivered more than they bargained for in these difficult economic times. Once again we are using our technology to make everyday living better for the people of the Caribbean.”
AG Cleared
Police Commissioner Colin Farquhar said Feb. 8 that he has closed the file on assault allegations against the attorney general by a staff member in November.
Attorney General Huw Shepheard had been accused of assault by one of his senior staff prosecutors on Nov. 30.
The staff member also is being investigated "as normal and proper under the civil service investigation procedure," the governor has said. The status of that investigation was not revealed.
An independent counsel outside the AG's office reviewed the police report on the incident.
The AG's office normally is consulted on police investigations but could not in this case to ensure impartiality, the governor has said.
Medical drama House to end, says Hugh Laurie
US medical drama House is to finish its eight-year run at the end of this series in April, it has been announced.
The show's producers, including British star Hugh Laurie, said it was a "painful" decision but that the time had come to bring it to a close.
Laurie plays Gregory House, the brilliant but troubled doctor with an unconventional bedside manner.
It has won nearly 40 awards since it began, including two Emmys and two Golden Globes.
House has won the favourite TV drama prize at the People's Choice Awards for the past four years.
The show also stars Omar Epps, Robert Sean Leonard and Charlyne Yi.
In a statement, 52-year-old Laurie and fellow producers David Shore and Katie Jacobs said: "We have always imagined House as an enigmatic creature; he should never be the last one to leave the party.
"How much better to disappear before the music stops, while there is still some promise and mystique in the air."
House is shown on Sky1 in the UK.