Newcomer Omaiah Hall among People’s Choice Award’s favourites

DPI, Guyana, Tuesday, February 25, 2020

The people have spoken, and four talented artistes have emerged as the winners of this year’s People’s Choice Awards.

Among them are newcomers Omaiah Hall and Erica ‘Karizzma’ Rupine.

On the Department of Social Cohesion’s Jubilee 2020 Facebook page, Hall racked up 202 likes with her winning calypso “Tell Me How Come” in the junior category and 238 for her song “Proud of who I am” in the junior Soca segment.

“I feel awesome. I felt that it was well deserved not because my other competitors were not great, but I was able to give that 110 percent energy as I wanted to. I am so grateful to my mom, friends who were with me from the beginning…everything just worked out for me,” Hall told DPI after being awarded the 2020 Junior Calypso crown.

Rupine scored 470 likes for her catchy number “Action” in the adult Soca competition, while Jovinski Thorne received 431 likes in the adult Calypso segment.

Crowd favourite Steven Ramphal received 328 likes with his song ‘Jo Sangeet Main Gaata’- a message of love and unity in the Chutney segment.

The polls were opened from January 17 to February 23 which gave persons ample time to visit the department’s official Mashramani/ Golden Jubilee 2020 Facebook page to view videos and vote for their favourite singer.

Director of Culture, Tamika Boatswain, had noted that the event, introduced in 2019, would give newcomers much-needed promotion while allowing them to cultivate a fan base.

“We are giving the participants another chance to earn something because, at times, the judges’ decision is final, but the view of the public is different. They may have a preference for a different singer; not necessarily be the person who won,” Boatswain said.

Last year’s winner Shaima ‘Sexy Berry’ Muna, was also a newcomer who captured audiences with her song ‘Nah Tired Yet’.