Lockhart hoping to help smaller bands achieve wins in bigger categories

Almost everything that Oxley ‘Giddy’ Lockhart touches turn to gold and the mas man and designer is on a mission.

His assignment? Make sure that the smaller masquerade bands record wins in the King and Queen of the Bands competitions.

For the second consecutive year, a costume designed by Giddy won a major category during Vincy Mas. His daughter Ateisha Lockhart’s portrayal of ‘Pan – Musical instrument of the Caribbean,’ from the band Hitz FM 103.7 Owen Ralph and the Professionals, took the Queen of the Bands title this year.{{more}}

Last year, Ahdrenalin’s ‘Eastern Interlude’, played by David ‘Sky’ Llewelyn and designed by Giddy, won the coveted King of the Bands competition, giving Ahdrenalin its first ever such accolade.

Pan – Musical instrument of the Caribbean was part of Owen Ralph’s 2016 Mardi Gras presentation ‘Musical Beats’ and Ateisha won the coveted title on Dimanche Gras night, Sunday, July 3.

Speaking to SEARCHLIGHT, Lockhart, whose first King of the Bands title came as a designer for Dragons, noted that he has been involved in masquerade costume design and building since 1968. He has designed and won major competitions for Blondie Bird, completing a hat-trick with that band, winning in 2007 with ‘A tribute to Othneil;’ in 2008 with ‘Jupiter Explorer;’ and in 2009 with ‘Wild Meat’, all played by Atiba Lockhart.

Giddy explained that having achieved such goals for the bigger Mas bands, he is hoping that he can help the smaller bands achieve in these categories, hence his reason for designing for Ahdrenalin last year and Owen Ralph this year.

“If anybody ain’t help them, they would never get anything, so I decide to work with the small bands,” said Lockhart, who stressed, ‘I’m very overwhelmed about the win.”

He said that they started building the huge costume in February and they are very proud.

Giddy is a true mas man, having once mortgaged his property at McKies Hill for EC$30,000 to produce a band, as sponsors were hard to come by. He had his own band in 1992, dubbed ‘Hairouna’. His presentation in 1992 was ‘Colours and Craft’; in 1993 came ‘Caribbean Food Basket’ and in 1994, ‘Carifesta’. He noted that he sent messages with his productions: Colours and Craft paid tribute to local mas men; Caribbean Food Basket spoke about producing from the land and Carifesta was asking for regional integration.

Speaking about the band’s success on the Queen of the Bands stage, bandleader Verlene Ralph said that they are very proud of their victory, as the highest they have ever placed in any competition was third; third for Queen of the Bands and third for Band of the Year a few years ago.

“When we were building this costume, we knew it would be a winner. It blended with the theme,” said Ralph who added, “coming first for a small band, we feel overjoyed and I would like to thank Giddy for designing such a beautiful costume and I would also like to thank our masqueraders, the St Vincent Brewery and Hitz FM,” stressed Ralph. The band this year had about 200 masqueraders.

Second in the Queen of the Bands competition this year was Petra Pompey, with ‘Izza Vincy’ from the band Digicel Nelson Bloc and their 2016 production ‘Vincy sweet Vincy nice’. Pompey was also second last year.

In third place was Jolene Wynne with ‘Temptation’ from Guinness, BMC Agencies, Hitz FM 103.7 Blondie Bird and Friends, while fourth place went to Tericia Govia with ‘Bubble Bath’ from Metrocint General Insurance Co Ltd High Voltage Mas Production.

For the last 10 years, either Semone Richardson or Jenilee Glasgow has won the Queen of the Bands competition. Richardson did not take part this year and Glasgow, with her presentation, ‘Batey Mamselle: Queen of the Samba’ from SVG Players International did not place. Glasgow was third last year.

The other participants were Xtreme FM 104.3, G&T Enterprise Lynx Mas Band with ‘Bling Bling-Jewellery,’ portrayed by Cynthia Lockhart; Imagination Mas Band with ‘Gemini,’ by Cheryl Blackman and Melbourne Artisans, with ‘Warrior Queen Nzinga-Monarch of the Mbundu People,’ portrayed by Cleopatra Weekes.(LC)