ICC Twenty20 World Cup…
for today’s gala opening at Providence Stadium
‘The Caribbean will deliver a unique global showpiece’
–    Tournament Director, Robert Bryan
AFTER months of planning and preparation for the third International Cricket Council (ICC) Twenty20 World Cup, the Caribbean is ready to deliver what the tournament Director Robert Bryan is calling a global showpiece. The event will start here in Guyana today with a gala opening ceremony that will see performances by world renowned dancehall artiste Orville Burrell who’s better known as ‘Shaggy’ along with Fay-Ann Lyons and Clifford ‘Mr. Vegas’ Smith who sang the theme song of the tournament.

Some local acts will also be on show, namely Jomo and Adrian, the famed ‘Times 2’ duo, 2010 road March queen ‘Vanilla’ and ‘B52’, among others.

Their acts, which get on the way from 11:00 hours, will be televised live around the world, followed by two matches – Sri Lanka versus New Zealand and West Indies taking on Ireland.

This is not the first time that the Jamaican Bryan is soaking his feet in the deep waters of one of the games spectacles as he was the CEO of the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup in his homeland.

Bryan said that the combination with sports and entertainment is called ‘Sportainment’ and it is with this fusion that the region will give the rest of the world an opportunity to “see something truly that they will not be able to copy, but we are very certain that they will thoroughly appreciate.”

“The creative energy of the region will rank and stand with any product in the world and we are very excited that that will happen,” Bryan said.

“What has been planned to unfold, leading into the first match, is something that we’ve been working to put together, so that the rest of the world will get a glimpse of the Caribbean,” Bryan pointed out.

He went on to state that “this event is driven by a well organised element called sportainment which seeks to position the product in an atmosphere where the people can have fun. It carries dance podium, it carries the music and elements to make sure that spectators truly enjoy this event,” Bryan said.

The ICC T20 tournament director praised the local authorities whom he said has done more than a perfect job in ensuring that everything was in place for them to deliver one of cricket’s biggest spectacles.

OPENING PERFORMANCES

Speaking at a Press conference yesterday at the Princess International Hotel in Guyana, Mr. Vegas and Shaggy both promised scintillating performances which will keep the throngs of fans captivated at today’s opening of the tournament at the Guyana National Stadium.

While it is the first time that Mr. Vegas is performing for an ICC event, both Shaggy and Fay-Ann Lyons were part of the celebrations in 2007 for Cricket World Cup when they collaborated with Barbadian Soca singer Rupee for that tournament’s theme song ‘The Game we love’.

Fay-Ann was not present at yesterday’s press conference but will be in Guyana for today’s opening celebration.

However, Mr. Vegas reminisced on his recent stop in Guyana during a tour of the Caribbean performing the theme song ‘Bring it’ at the Edge Night Club and noted that today, he expects nothing short of a celebration from the Guyanese people whom he said are among some of the most passionate people in  the region when it comes to the game of cricket.

“It’s party time and cricket time in Guyana and of course you know how the Guyanese people love their cricket so, it’s going to be a grand time and we are just going to add to that vibes and  its going to be great,” Vegas told reporters.

Meanwhile, ‘Shaggy’ said that “It’s good to be involved….when some of the Caribbean’s biggest assist – sports, its people and music is combined, the expectation is nothing short of being perfect. We shall bring it just as much as the cricket will bring it. We have very popular songs that these people know and I don’t think it would be very hard for us to have fun and show the world that the Caribbean is here”.

Tickets for the first two match days (April 30 & May 2) are sold out with only a few party stands tickets remaining and Brian is stating that the party stand gives all the ultimate cricket experience and a chance to mingle with the stars.

“If you are missing the matches of this 20/20 tournament, in the WI, you are missing what is going to be a truly unique and exciting tournament. Our ticket sales suggest that a lot of people have gotten that message where our opening match is sold out with only the tickets for the party stand left,” the Jamaican said.