The Charles Chocolates Dancin’ Dynamites Competition feted audiences with the sweet sounds of Soca last Sunday as six teams faced off showcasing their best ‘Wine and wuk-up’ moves at the carnival-themed semi-final staging.
The evening’s proceedings took off with the competition’s own festival of high-energy after the announcement that dance crew Street Team was the crowd favourite with the most votes from the public since their dance routine the week prior.
The night’s Soca theme, highlighting just one of the many other musical genres of the Caribbean, is timely and comes just after this year’s record-breaking turnout for Jamaica Carnival, which saw more than fifty thousand tourists visiting the island to participate in what stakeholders called ‘The biggest carnival in Jamaica’s history’.
The performances utilized popular elements of the annual carnival festivities, including bright colours, wave rags, gems and glitter, as judges Orville Hall, Kerry-Ann Henry and Charles Chocolates brand ambassador Kevyn of Dancehall duo Voicemail commended their overall “solid movements”, “good energy” and “nice vibe”. The clear favourite for the evening – Street Team – danced to roars of applause and screams from the crowd with Hall stating in his review that they are “the ones that can potentially win the competition”.
The weekly ‘Clash 13’ showdown ended with a street battle between Overload Skankas and Unruly Squad after a random draw selection and saw Unruly losing out to the rival dance group, which won the J$20,000 on-the-spot prize, after last week’s one-minute face-off in the Nannyville community.
Roxanne Brown, Brand Manager, Charles Chocolates, said she’s expecting high energy synonymous with the rousing launch to be the clincher for the Season 13 ‘Clash 13, Cut and Clean’ finale. “There’s a lot of excitement as we approach the much-anticipated finals this Sunday, and we want the teams to bring it! From vibes, to synergy to energy – every team has to put on their best show to secure the top honours after the dust has settled.”
The Charles Chocolates Dancin’ Dynamite grand finale is set to take place on Sunday, May 20, at the Jamaica College Auditorium. After the impending elimination, five teams will go head-to-head for the winning title, bragging rights and over J$3 million in cash and prizes from competition organiser Jenny Jenny Productions, and title sponsors Charles Chocolates.
Charles Chocolates brand ambassadors and dancehall duo Voicemail – Kevyn (left) and Craig (right) – pause for a photo op with Charles Chocolates Brand Manager Roxanne Brown.
A section of the audience gets into soca action at the semi-final staging of the Charles Chocolates Dancin’ Dynamites Competition.
Zahrah Khan (left) poses with Charles Chocolates Brand Manager Roxanne Brown ahead of the evening’s proceedings at the semi-final staging of the Charles Chocolates Dancin’ Dynamites Competition.
Kevyn of dancehall duo Voicemail (left) and Charles Chocolates Brand Manager Roxanne Brown (right) present Jerdeen Turner and her daughter Rikola Mitchell with gift baskets to celebrate Mother’s Day at the semi-final staging of the Charles Chocolates Dancin’ Dynamites Competition.
Charles Chocolates Dancin’ Dynamites Competition judge Kerry-Ann Henry flashes a smile just before the start of the semi-final staging of the competition.
Crowd favourite dance crew Street Team performs at the semi-final staging of the Charles Chocolates Dancin’ Dynamites Competition. The crew received the most votes from the public after their performance at the prior week’s quarter-final staging.
