FAMED dancehall artiste Clifford ‘Mr Vegas’ Smith and Trinidad and Tobago Soca Queen Fay-Ann Lyons have both arrived in Guyana with the entourage for tonight’s performance of the ICC Twenty20 World Cup theme song ‘Bring it0 tonight at the Edge Lounge.
The event is part of the promotional tour of the artistes by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for cricket’s showpiece, the T20 World Cup, which will bowl off at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, on April 30.
Guyana is the fifth stop for the ‘Bring It’ tour, and the first of the four other countries who will be hosting the mega event.
They started in Jamaica, Antigua, St Vincent and the Grenadines along with Trinidad and Tobago with all of the said named islands not being part of the tournament venues.
The theme song according to the duo is a fusion of the Caribbean’s two more popular genre of music; Soca and Dancehall that was written Marlon Chen with some influence from both Mr Vegas and Fay-Ann Lyons and was produced at the Coda Studio in Orlando, Florida.
At a press conference hosted yesterday by the ICC’s Local Organising Committee for the event in Guyana, Lyons said that the song and the concept were brought to them by the organisers and they added their touch to make what they are calling an informative and yet gyrating track.
The song, the artistes say, has gotten positive ratings in the four other countries where they have performed and expect that tonight it would be no different.
“The song was inspired by the tournament itself, inspired by the people and the vibes that the Caribbean brings. You know, when you see a cricket match in the Caribbean its ‘riddim’ section and everyone enjoying themselves. It was designed for people to come out and have a good time, just ‘bring it’, said the Trinidadian Soca songstress.
But Mr Vegas said that he was more enthused and excited to be part of the event since he grew up with the game of cricket in Jamaica and the excitement it has brought to the region.
“With this song, we want the players to feel motivated; we want the fans to come out and fill stands and have a good time because when the stands are filled, it sends and adrenalin rush to the players for them to perform at the next level so we want this whole vibes to be transformed into good performance,” said Mr Vegas.
As it relates to tonight’s event at the Main Street-located Edge Lounge Night Club, the artistes said that patrons could come out and expect top class performance and one that would certainly leave a lasting impression before the excitement that is to come when the tournament starts next month.
Four venues will be used for the showpiece event with Barbados, Guyana and St Lucia staging the men’s tournament and St Kitts hosting the women’s.
The national stadium at Providence will play host to the first-round matches where Guyanese will get a chance to witness the opening of the ICC WT20 on April 30 along with all the West Indies matches.
St Lucia and Barbados were fortunate to host both super eight and semi-finals along with the first round set of matches, but the Kensington Oval was named the home of the finals for the male and females championships.
Tickets for the stands will be sold at US$10, and grounds or grass mound as it is known are being sold at US$5 and party stands US$65 while children under 16 will be admitted free.