SIXTEEN of the competitors have made it to the Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Company (GT&T) Jingle and Song Competition finals.

They emerged finalists on Friday, May 3, when they gathered, among 25 at the National Cultural Centre (NCC) in Georgetown, waiting with bated breaths for the judges to determine who would go forward to the May 26 final.
The lucky ones competed in the semi-final segments of both the Bollywood and English categories of the contest.
Of the 10 who contested in the Bollywood segment, only six were sent through to the next round, in results which appeared shocking to many viewers in the audience.
However, while it is known that everyone has favourites, the public votes played a major role in deciding who would be shortlisted.
There was an uproar in the English camp when the apparent crowd favourite, Dorian Obermuller, was eliminated and he certainly did not take it nicely.
He exploded in anger and unleashed a string of obscenities when fellow contestants tried to comfort him.
Surprising, too, was the overlooking of the very talented Sherbeth Hinds, whom many thought would have made it to the end.
Miracles
The Guyana Chronicle was informed that, while some of those contesting just hoped for miracles, others took to the streets and elsewhere with their campaign to accumulate public votes.
Essequibians Edward Perez and Tishana Cort pointed out that they took their campaigns on the road, market places and schools in Essequibo to ensure they remained in the rivalry.
Natasha Yhap from Georgetown related that, with the use of promotional flyers, she made sure she secured her votes to stay in the running.
Ten persons are on the shortlist to finish in the English version camp to compete at the finals. They are Lerone Souvenir (E6), Michael Small (E9), Edward Perez (E10), Darren Benjamin (E3), Ryan Hoppie (E12), T’Shana Cort (E13), Natasha Yhap (E18), Diana Chapman (E20), Neil Maraj (E21) and Lemnel Chestor (E30).
Those selected from the Bollywood group are Yeataindra Singh (B16), Reshma Persaud (B10), Andy Rambharack (B6), Bibi Halima Khan (B5), Denishwar Bisessar (B8) and Devchandra Ramrattan (B13).