THE African Cultural Development Association (ACDA) held its presentation ceremony on Monday to award the winners of its Centre Stage and other competitions, held at the National Park on August 1 in celebration of Emancipation Day 2014.

A very elated Chief Judge of Centre Stage, Mr. Burchmore Simon, who is also founder of the Guyana Music Network, alluded to Centre Stage as an outstanding success.

He was high in praise for the quality of performance by the contestants, and encouraged them to continue to enter and bring quality entries to the competitions.

Simon said: “When people have the opportunity…take that opportunity with both hands and excel. Take every perceivable opportunity to grasp success.”

Centre Stage is a one-of-a-kind competition hosted annually by ACDA and the Guyana Music Network. It forms part of ACDA’s youth development and outreach programmes, and allows for participants to enter and win competitions for not more than three consecutive years.

Mr. Burchmore Simon explained that the objectives of the competition include enabling youths to express themselves to a captive audience, and providing a stage for creative expression while giving the young performers a chance to experience the ‘big stage’ with professional setting and star treatment.

Contestants were judged this year in the following categories: Singers, Instrumentalists, Poetry and Designers. Copping the top prize in the Singers’ Category was Mikhail Sam, with second prize going to Sueanne Pinder and third prize going to Michael Small.

For Instrumentalists, Shoghi copped the first prize; the second prize went to Lodge Secondary School, and third prize was won by Gavin Singh and Emilie Maartens.

For Poetry, the two finalists were Savita Seeram and Tishhauna Adams;
and for the Designers, Shamiah Gomes ran away with the first prize, while Colvin Andrews copped the second prize and Mark Junor was awarded the third prize.
Musicians winning the top prizes were: Selector Sparta and Selector Andre, who won $40,000 and a trophy. All other winners were awarded a trophy and a gift with the compliments of dedicated sponsors.

And stealing the show with her rhythmic dancing was a five-year-old girl who was also awarded a trophy and a huge hamper.

Approximately 30 certificates of recognition were awarded to others for outstanding performances in the various categories.

(By Shirley Thomas)