Photos /Story
By ADRIAN BOODAN

LOVERS, old and young, shared an evening of top class entertainment on Saturday (February 16) night at the Annual Valentine's Day show featuring local musical heartthrob Raymond Ramnarine. The thousands packing  the Centre of Excellence, Macoya were treated to an energetic opening performance from Renee Ramnarine, the eldest of the Ramnarine bothers, and the Hellbreakers, a local acrobatic dance group. The song and dance number coupled with excellent stage lighting and special effects set the mood for the rest of the show.

The programme flowed smoothly with performances from Derek Seales and Richard Ramnarine, two talented and accomplished vocalist from the Dil-e-Nadan orchestra. Sophia Mustapha, a local dance diva who has been making a name for herself for the last five years, performed a solo Indian dance item. Mustapha, who wore a black and silver garara, had patrons mesmerized as she displayed a well choreographed item of contemporary Indian dance. Mustapha's performance was a refreshing change from the exhausted copycat dance routines coming from other local Indian dancers who are sadly loosing their creative juices .

Mustapha  made way for Bollywood playback artiste Zubeen who made his first appearance on a local stage. Zubeen opened with his hit Ya Ali from the movie Gangster and went on to perform Subah Subah, Jag Lal, Ek Din and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. Zubeen was initially carded to make one appearance for the night, however the artiste said he wanted to treat his countless fans and gave another performance in the second half of the show .Zubeen later told the Guardian  that he was looking to perform again in T&T in the near future. Zubeen said his hobbies include  cricket and lists Sir Vivian Richards and Malcolm Marshal as two WI cricketers he admires with a great passion.

Sally Sagram, a banker by day and lead vocalist of the Spread Pal Crew by night , heated up the venue with a dose of  Sundar Popo  hits including he beloved classics: Chataar Bechaaro Balwaa, Hum Na Jaisay and Kaisay Baanee. Sagram displayed her usual  high sense of energy and love for performing on the stage and kept on dishing out more and more song and dance as the crowd rained a seemingly constant  flow of applause.

The time then came for Raymond Ramnarine, the star of the night, to make his appearance. Sporting a dazzling red jacket Raymond entered with the sounds pulsating off the tassa drums of the San Juan Young Stars as he enetered from the rear of the hall; making his way from the general admission area down the corridor and into the VIP area. During his short journey on foot , the usual wave of women mobbed him, hoping to hug and kiss the local mega star and in some way seek his blessings for Valentine's Day.

Ramnarine sucessfully made it through the crowd of women and into an area below the stage where he then  emerged from a hole placed in the centre of the stage  and appeared from behind a curtain. A mass of confetti and fireworks exploded into the air as he greeted the screaming crowd singing a medley of YaaBarasaay Sannam and To All the Girls I love Before.

Ramnarine  thanked his countless fans and the people of Gasparillo, his home town,  for the support he received during the rise of his musical career. Ramnarine took patrons down musical memory lane singing an overflowing array of Bollywood classics before the first half of the show closed. Promoter Rafi Mohammed, said he was extremely happy to see the show run smoothly and patrons satisfied. Mohammed said the next big event he has planned is a mega concert for Mother's Day featuring Anil Bheem, another local songster and local dance legend Michael Salickram.  Mohammed rightly deserves some praises for pulling off another smooth concert and giving patrons a good deal for the money and effort they spent to come to the concert; for the price of one, the fans got both Zubeen and Raymond Ramnarine.