Blondie Bird flies back to Mas glory

A victory 17 years in the making has resulted in the “glorious feeling” leader of Guinness Y De Lima Hitz Fm 103.7 Blondie Bird and Friends experienced on Wednesday.{{more}}

When the Carnival Development Corporation announced the results of the Band of the Year competition, Blondie Bird and Friends had come out on top.

The Band trounced defending champions SVG General Services Players International into fourth position after four consecutive years of mas dominance here.

Chairman of that outfit, Joel John, told SEARCHLIGHT on Wednesday that the band plans to meet to conduct a post mortem of this year’s attempt to retain the top prize.

They hope to be on top once again next year, even as John, who said Players had accepted the results, said he was “not too sure” what caused them to lose.

“Some people believe that our theme we had – “Out of Eden” – was not understood by the judges.

“But we will have to accept that. … We will go back to the drawing board and we hope that by next year, we will be back on top,” he said.

But while Players was trying to decide what went wrong, Blondie Bird and Friends were basking in their victory and planning for next year’s presentation: “Nature’s Fury”.

“It’s a glorious feeling. It’s a long time we trying (to win),” band leader Elroy Blondie Bird told SEARCHLIGHT on Wednesday.

“King of Pop -Tribute to Michael Jackson” gave the band its second taste of victory in its 17-year history. It was in honour of Jackson who died after going into cardiac arrest in June 2009.

The last time Blondie Bird & Friends was in winner’s row, the Band of the Year competition was divided in big and small bands categories and Blondie Bird won in the latter.

Shortly after that feat, the categories were discontinued and replaced with the general Band of the Year.

Bird attributed this year’s victory to the creativity used in designing the costumes and the presentation of the ten-section band.

He said the dancing of the “Ground Breakers”, who, before each section appeared on stage, excellently mimicked the renowned dancing of the late King of Pop, assisted in the quality of the presentation.

Blondie Bird & Friends topped the scoreboard with 543 points, 12 points more than second placed KFC Heineken Dragons, which depicted “Warriors, Myths and Legends”.

Third place went to Mirage Productions, which scored 525 points with their presentation “Hello Africa”.

Players International, who won the Junior Band of the Year title this year, scored 509 points with their production “Myths of Eden”.

Digicel Hitz FM 103.7 Nelson Bloc Mas Camp was fifth with 483 points from “We are… A celebration of Wise Choices.”

Blondie Birds also won in the Individual of the Band category with their presentation “We are the World” portrayed by Semone Richardson and placed fourth for the best use of colour.

Players secured the first place in the Uptown Competition with 444 points, while Mirage Production placed second with 428 points. Nelson Bloc Camp placed third scoring 420 points, while Blondie Bird and Friends placed fourth with 418 points.

Bird thanked his sponsors, saying the band’s victory would not have been possible without them. (OS/KC)