{"id":32759,"date":"2013-03-11T08:35:59","date_gmt":"2013-03-11T12:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/?p=32759"},"modified":"2013-03-12T09:11:04","modified_gmt":"2013-03-12T13:11:04","slug":"students-shine-at-national-arts-festival-adjudications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/2013\/03\/students-shine-at-national-arts-festival-adjudications","title":{"rendered":"Students Shine At National Arts Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Students participating in the 2013 E. Clement Bethel National Arts Festival Adjudications on Grand Bahama say that not only are they showcasing their talents, they are also learning and having fun.<\/p>\n

Anthony Smith, a 12th-grade student at Bishop Michael Eldon School who is performing for the second consecutive year, said that taking part in the Festival is a great experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love singing and playing the piano \u2013 basically music overall; so competing against other students and seeing how everyone else performs is great,\u201d he said after his performance in the Pop Solo for 16-18 year-olds (Class 31), on March 7, 2013.\u00a0 He had also performed the day before in the Gospel Solo for 16-18 year-olds (Class 17).\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s just a wonderful experience, gaining exposure and seeing what the competition is like and just showing what I have to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Janelle Thompson, a 15-year-old 10th-grade student at the same school, performed very well in the Gospel Solo for 13-15 years class (Class 15) and as a part of the Gospel singing group (13-15 years) earlier that week.\u00a0 She said being in the Festival this year was an exciting time for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first time I participated solo and I actually won (Class 15 in the Grand Bahama adjudications) so it was really exciting,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She added that she wanted to encourage other classmates and friends to participate in the Festival next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome out and enter into as many categories as possible,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m a little upset that I only entered one by myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

St. George\u2019s High School 11th-grade student Lashan Cooper agreed that being in the Festival was a fulfilling experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was great feeling to have, being onstage at the National Arts Festival,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first I was nervous; but when I got really into my song, the nervousness just went away and that was it,\u201d<\/p>\n

She said that she chose the song she performed Nat King Cole\u2019s \u201cUnforgettable\u201d because she wanted to perform it.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though it was an old song, it was a good song for me to sing,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cIt really helped to bring my score up really high.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eight Mile Rock High School 11th-grade student Vashti Charlton also sang a jazz standard (Peggy Lee\u2019s \u201cFever\u201d) in the Jazz Solo-Open Class (Class 35) and did well.\u00a0 She said she took part in the E. Clement Bethel National Arts Festival since she was in grade seven.\u00a0 However, until last year, she performed in the Dance categories.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very happy to get the highest score today (in the Grand Bahama adjudications for Class 35) because it was something I worked so hard towards.\u201d<\/p>\n

She agreed with using an older song to perform.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the feeling of the old song because it is like I am learning something about things that happened so far back and I am learning the old styles,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Bishop Michael Eldon School 11th-grader Lethea Carey performed strongly in last year\u2019s Festival.\u00a0 She said that that see enjoyed performing this year and that the competition is getting \u201cbetter and better\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am working harder and harder to win and it\u2019s a great experience,\u201d she said with a smile.\u00a0 \u201cMore people from my school are performing this year and it\u2019s fun being here with my friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

St. George\u2019s High School 10th-grade student Livia Duncombe performed \u201cMy Funny Valentine\u201d and Celine Dion\u2019s \u201cThink Twice\u201d in two classes that day.\u00a0 She said that she felt good and had a lot of fun in the Festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the first time I ever sung for a competition nationally,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cIt was awesome having my classmates performing, too.\u00a0 They are like my family and it was good having that support there for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Charlton she said that it was also good to have adjudicators from the Festival come to the island to see what the competitors have to offer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt brings a sense of variety \u2013 not just the judges from Freeport \u2013 and that way we get a more impartial score on our abilities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would encourage any of my schoolmates to enter it next year,\u201d Ms. Charlton added.\u00a0 \u201cTry it because it encourages you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The E. Clement Bethel National Arts Festival Adjudications continue in Grand Bahama until March 15, at the Grand Lucayan Convention Centre and the event is free and open to the public.<\/p>\n

By Eric Rose<\/span><\/em>
\nBahamas Information Services<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Students participating in the 2013 E. Clement Bethel National Arts Festival Adjudications on Grand Bahama say that not only are they showcasing their talents, they are also learning and having fun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[491],"tags":[1335,1337,296,1336],"class_list":["post-32759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","tag-e-clement-bethel-national-arts-festival-adjudications","tag-singing","tag-students","tag-talent"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32759\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}