BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE situation on Nevis relative to the controversy over the Culturama 2013 Road March competition remains open-ended with the Kore Band being stripped of the title...but no winner has been declared.
According to a communique which was posted on the Nevis Culturama Festival Facebook page headlined “Nevis Culturama Festival Committee resolves the Culturama 39 Road March Controversy”, following “an extensive review of the issues related to the challenged results of the recently concluded Culturama 39 Road March contest”, no winner could be declared.
“It has been decided, that due to significant judging errors for which the Committee takes full responsibility, and in fairness to all participating bands, there could be no declared winner for the title of Road March for Culturama 39. However, the bands involved in the competition would be compensated equally for their participation.”
The winners of the Road March competition were announced on Tuesday, August 6, 2013 and according to those results, the Kore won the title with 406 points, the Odisi Band came in second with 259 and the UltraSonics Band placed third with 251 points.
And serious concerns were raised by the bands of Nevis which requested that the situation be investigated as it was claimed that the Kore Band did not pass the judging points during the allotted period of time. The bands declared that their problem is not with the fact that the Kore was declared winner but with the obvious underhanded nature with which it was done.
They also indicated that they wanted the Culturama Committee to make investigations into the matter to ensure that during future competition, all bands would enter on a level playing field.
In the press release, the Committee apologised to the Kore Band, the Odisi Band, the UltraSonics Band and their supporters for the turn of events.
“The Committee sincerely apologises to the members of the KORE band which was initially announced as the winner, and seemingly commands overwhelming public support for their popular song ‘Love De Festival’
“Apologies are also extended to the Odisi and The Ultra Sonic Bands and their supporters, who notwithstanding, were in full compliance with the prescribed rules, may ultimately be adversely impacted by this regrettable decision. The Culturama Committee would like to thank all the bands and revellers, who contributed to the peaceful and enjoyable street activities for Culturama 39.”
The situations still seems very-much unresolved in that it is not clear as to what measures – if any – would be put in place to prevent these “significant judging errors” from reoccurring.
