By Lloyd McKell - Trinidad Guardian
The usual post-Panorama arguments go on about who really won the Panorama, who didn’t deserve to win, complaints about the judging etc. Fans of a particular steelband often express dissatisfaction with the results of the Panorama competition, if their favoured band does not win or does not come in at a higher position. This is inevitable because the results are based on subjective evaluation and as such, judges’ assessments of who performed best will be different among themselves, and from the perceptions of people in the general audience. It is inevitable because Panorama is the expression of a social and cultural experience, and not simply a competition about strictly pan music.
Perceptions among the populace of who won the Panorama or who deserved a higher position are influenced largely by individuals’ personal and historic identification with particular steelbands. These perceptions are based on factors which usually have little to do with the individual’s understanding of the music per se, but rather on factors such as, shared identification with the home locality of the band, family and social relationships connected with the band, chance experiences, first time good impressions etc. People become fans of a particular steelband because of these circumstances.
Music is defined as “the science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity”. Panorama has never been only about pan music defined in this way. Panorama is a cultural expression involving all of the elements that go into the actual performance in front of the judges.
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Consider this. A good friend of mine who is an ace pannist himself, reminded me about the days when each band in the Panorama had to play rolling along the track,up to the stage and then play on the stage to be judged. You had to play 'sweet pan" from the beginning to move the crowd and also impress the judges. Music is the language but the pan, created in Trinbago, will always be about passion, creativity,and the people who created it and still love it.
I understand what the writer is saying here but find it hard to accept the fact that one band won because they "danced' better or "more" than the others, panorama is firstly about MUSIC.
Cecil, I believe that Dancing etc comes under General Performance 40 pts. (just guessing, I don't know) If is so, Birdsong will never gain any points in this Criteria.