Road March Competition ends on a bitter sweet note
PHILIPSBURG — “I would never wish the level of embarrassment and heartache I went through last night on my worst enemy! What happened and how it happened was very unfortunate, but hey, c’est la vie.” Rumari V. Rogers was quoted as saying the morning after the competition.
Rogers, stage name King Rumer, was looking to capture the coveted title for the 4th straight year with his song entitled ‘One Last Jam’ when he was challenged for the crown by nine other participants.
The stage performances by King Rumer and King James were commendable, the back up performers were all on point and the crowd loved every moment of it. But it was entirely up to the judges who were working with a specific criteria.
Ironically, when the moment of truth arrived, Dutty Sham, the MC for the night declared King Rumer as the winner. Then in a strange twist of events, he pulled off a (Steve Harvey) moment and claimed it was a mistake. The real winner was Kelvin James, stage name King James, with a song entitled ‘ Stop Talk and Wuk Up’.
From the reaction of sections of the huge crowd, that decision was not well received, but the decision of the judges was final and just like Steve Harvey who made a similar mistake at the Miss Universe Pageant, Dutty Sham will have to live with the mistake.
King Rumer, the last of the 10 participants to perform on stage finished with a total of 222 points and King James with 234 points. The twelve points difference was testimony to the level of competition between the two front runners in the competition.
The other participants were Mighty Chip Man with 61 points, Mighty Pepper 81, Da Big Bad X Band 177, Odd Brothers 216, Uncle Brasi 181, Party Time 217, Mr Oezy 219 and Boogie G Suave 176.
In the Band-O Rama competition which drew lots of attention, the Big Bad XP Band finished with 266 points ahead of Mr Oezy & TG Band on 234 and the ZTB Band with 185 points. However the competition among the bands is not over, they will still be judged during the events that will take place on the road for the remaining of the season.
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