By Khaila Gentle
BELIZE CITY, Sun. June 5, 2022
Just five countries from a starting total of ten will be represented in the final round of the 2022 PanoGrama steelpan competition, and Belize is among them after pannist Alexander Evans earned himself a spot with his performance of “Welcome to Belize” by Leela Vernon. Evans, who is representing Belize for the first time in the virtual competition, will be vying on June 12 for a grand prize worth over US $6,000 alongside skilled pannists from Trinidad & Tobago, the USA, France, and Grenada.
Selections for this year’s semifinals ranged from “Mariage d’Armour” by Paul Senneville to Bob Marley’s “Could You Be Loved”, but Alexander Evans kept things close to home, stating that he wished to use his performance to pay homage to the Queen of Brukdown herself while also honoring the women artists and culture workers of Belize. He told local talkshow hosts Renata Samuels and Kevin Mendez that it’s time for Belize to start giving its women “their flowers”.
Evans’ performance space, which was curated by the Museum of Belize’s Ilona Smiling, featured the artwork of several Belizean artists: Yaoling Lee, Briheda Haylock, Shahera Young, and Jacqueline Ewens.
“Typically in most cultures, and I don’t think Belize is any exception, women tend to be the main propagators of culture, you know, and I also think that it’s long overdue that we start giving our women their flowers. There are too many women who have done so much work in arts and culture who have passed on, you know, not just Leela Vernon herself, but Miss Myrna Manzanares, Beverly Smith-Lopez, Miss Rosita Balthazar …,” he said, adding that his performance was a way of saying ‘thank you’ to all those women.
Described as the “World Cup of steel pan” PanoGrama was founded during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic by Trinibagonian pannist Nevin Roach, who had been inspired by live entertainment shows on social media. Since then, it has grown into a widely watched competition streamed both on social media and television in the Caribbean, the US, and Canada.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Shaquille Forbes came out on top of this year’s semifinals, having performed a rendition of “Spain” by the late Chick Corea. In second place was France’s Mathieu Borgne, who played Lord Kitchener’s “Sour Apple”, and completing the top three was David Yundi from the USA, who performed “Feel the Love” by Freetown Collective and DJ Private Ryan.
Come Sunday, June 12, at 6:00 p.m. local time, finalists will be competing for a grand prize of an all-expenses-paid trip to the Bahamas courtesy of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture – Bahamas, a Perfect Steel tenor pan and case, USD 1,000, and a private session with a world-renowned steelpannist.