Reigning International Chutney Soca Monarch Kris "KI" Persad reminded guests at the 2012 103FM Awards of his wizardly skill on the piano when he played a beautiful intro to his song, "Single 4Eva", at the event on October 30 at Queen's Hall, St Ann's.

Many of the guests were not initially aware that it was Persad playing the piano, which was placed at the foot of the stage and when they did realise it was him cheers erupted. After several bars the song's music track kicked in and Persad took the stage accompanied by dancers.

The audience roared again when Machel Montano joined Persad to perform the remixed version of the song that proved the biggest chutney-soca hit of 2012.

In fact, "Single 4Eva" won KI and 3Veni three awards on the night namely: Best Chutney Soca Male, Best Chutney-Soca Collaboration and Song of the Year. Persad was denied the award for People's Choice, which was claimed by Ria Ramaya and Anil Bheem for the song, "Broken Angel".

The evening was quite enjoyable with the awards ceremony moving along quickly and smoothly. An aspect of the event was the induction into the 103FM Hall of Fame of seven artistes who have throughout their respective careers achieved exceptional success as well as contributed to the preservation and development of Indo-Trinbagonian culture.

Two of the inductees, Sookdeo Sookhraj (classical singing) and Emmanuel "Zoon" Ramcharan (instrumental {dholak player), were inducted posthumously with family members accepting the awards on their behalf. The other inductees were: Balliram "Bala" Ramroop (classical singing), Rajesh Seenath (Dance), Chote "Sangeet" Saaj (orchestration), the Mansaram Family (special family recognition) and Rawytee Ali (folk art expressions).

In the way of entertainment, the Country Boys Tassa Group greeted the guests on the red carpet, which included President George Maxwell Richards and his wife Dr Jean Ramjohn-Richards, as they arrived. The Shiv Shakti Dancers delivered a performance that saw them dancing to a medley of chutney and chutney-soca, including "Maticoor Night", in which one of the dancers sent the audience wild with her comical antics.

Violinist Shivanand Maharaj and his group also performed an instrumental medley that incorporated a blend of traditional East Indian music, chutney and pop. An impressive performance was that of Sally Sagram who did a cover version of "Starships" by Nicki Minaj, into which she injected Hindi lyrics.

Accompanied by dancers, Sagram's vocals were simply beautiful and her rendition actually sounded better than the original singer's performance of the song. The audience too seemed to enjoy the performance.

Award winners:

Best Bhajan – "Aaj Andhere" - Anil Bheem

Best Hindi Gospel – "Bàadalon Par Yish" - Isaac Baksh

Best Chutney Parang – "Home For Christmas" - Adesh Samaroo

Best Indi Pop – "If We Fell In Love" - Shazelle Gobin

Best Cover Version Male – "Humko Pyar Hua" - Raymond Ramnarine

Best Cover Version Female – "Chudi Chamke" - Nandini Kanhai

Best Cover Version Collaboration – "Tu Isterah Se" - Raymond Ramnarine and Kayente

Best Lyricist – Rishi Ram – "Meh Bam Bam Vex"

Best New Recording Artiste – Gregory Ayeun – "De Tassa"

Best Engineered Song – Rishi Mahatoo – "Pania Barana"

Best Musical Arranger – Rishi Mahatoo – "Humko"

Best Chutney Male – "Gori Tori Paijanya" - Rakesh Yankaran

Best Chutney Female – "Harr Gayo Ray" - Hemalata Dindial

Best Chutney Soca Male – KI – "Single 4Eva"

Best Chutney Soca Female – Artie Butkoon – "Mousie Get Away"

Best Chutney Soca Collaboration – KI And Machel Montano – "Single 4Eva"

Album of the Year – D' Raja in a Chatack Matack - Rakesh Yankaran

Most Popular Local Song – "Broken Angel" - Ria Ramaya And Anil Bheem

People's Choice Award – "Broken Angel" - Ria Ramaya And Anil Bheem

Song Of The Year – "Single 4Eva" – KI

Pen portraits of

Hall of Fame inductees:

Classical singing

Balliram "Bala" Ramroop

Balliram "Bala" Ramroop was born on September 21, 1941 at Cottage Village, California in Central Trinidad, one of six children born to Ramroop and Sonia Latchman.

After he left primary school, Balliram joined his mother on the sugarcane estate.

In 1957 his father bought a parcel of agricultural lands at Bunsee Trace, Penal Rock Road, and moved his family from California to that address.

On June 21, 1959 his parents arranged a marriage to the former Krishendaye Hoordeen and together they had eight children: five boys and three girls.

Balliram cites his father as his guru and mentor.

Ramroop Latchman, who was an accomplished singer of religious songs, always took his son to his singing sessions.

It was during this time that Balliram's interest in music was patiently nurtured and from his father, he learnt to play the majeea, dhantal and dholak.

His very first instrument was a dholak given to him by his father and as Balliram grew older, he joined a religious singing group led by Harripersad 'Boland' Gayadeen.

From religious to film to local classical songs, he honed his vocal skills and soon, Balliram's beautiful, captivating voice was revealed.

When his friends felt that he was good enough to match his skills with the best, they urged him to participate in a classical singing competition at a temple in Quarry Village, Siparia.

After a keen contest he emerged victorious and from here, there was no looking back.

During his singing career Balliram, who soon became popularly known as Bola, won several singing competitions.

To this day he continues to have a large following, with many fans who adore him and his singing.

Classical singing – Posthumously

SOOKDEO SOOKHRAJ

Sookdeo Sookhraj was born on April 21, 1943 in Aranjuez.

From his early youth he developed a keen love for singing, especially Indian classical, religious and hindi film songs.

He had no formal training, with his encouragement instead coming from his village environment and older classical singers around at that time who saw his talent.

The late Ramcharitar also worked towards developing Sookdeo in the field of classical singing.

As an accomplished accountant, Sookdeo worked assiduously to build his singing career.

He learned and even taught Sanskrit, Hindi and Urdu.

Sookdeo Sookhraj, apart from being an amazing harmonium player, also played the dholak and the accordion.

He was a part of the band Naya Zamana and won many singing competitions throughout Trinidad and Tobago.

Most notably, he was a finalist of the popular Mastana Bahar competition.

His early recorded albums include The First Hanuman Chalisa recorded in Trinidad and Tobago, Sarwan Kumar Katha and Tent Singing.

Later, many other classical and bhajan cds were recorded and produced and he visited countries such as Jamaica, Surinam and Guyana to perform.

Sookdeo's sincerity of rendition, melody and style are what distinguished him from the rest of singers during his time.

Is this that has definitely earned him a place among the greatest religious and classical singers of Trinidad and Toabgo.

Folk art expression

RAWYTEE ALI

Rawytee Ali was born on May 9, 1943.

She attended the Debe Hindu School between 1952 and 1956 after which she moved on to the Gandhi

Girls' College in Penal. There, she spent five years before finally pursuing a vocational course of studies at the Polytechnic Institute. Rawytee learned to read Hindi with her mother's uncle when she was just eight years old and went on to compose a few songs in the language. She first gained experience when she sang in the Debe Hindu School choir at the tender of nine. Little by little, Rawytee learnt to appreciate the soothing powers of indigenous songs and melodies, and vowed to cultivate this art by whatever means she could. At an early age, she participated in singing chowtaal for Phagwa and as she grew older, she became interested in singing wedding songs. She went around the country seeking tutelage from some of the older women folk, with her method of learning being transcripting: Rawytee would hurriedly scribble down songs as the ladies performed. Rawytee, however, could not actively pursue singing as a public career until some thirty years later after she raised adult children of her own. In 1983, she formed the Saraswatie Ladies' Chowtaal and Ramayana Group and under her expert guidance, the group grew strong, offering free tuition to anyone interested in Indian music. Today, Rawytee is indeed a very busy and dynamic lady who often performs at four times a week. She believes good singers are those who possess a complete knowledge of Hindi and a good voice. She also believes singing success is determined by dedication and lots of practice, as she herself has so beautifully demonstrated over the years. Instrumental (Dholak player) – Posthumously EMMANUEL ZOON RAMCHARAN Emmanuel Zoon Ramcharran was born on 25th December 1925 at Vistabella, San Fernando, the third of four children for Phillip Jadoo Ramcharran and Marianne Jahmael. His family was poor and at the age of twenty, he became a labourer with the San Fernando Borough Council where he stayed until retirement. At the age of twenty-two, he chose as his life long companion Elvina, with whom he fathered ten children: four boys and six girls. As a young man and with a passion for music, he believed he needed to learn the Hindi language in order to better appreciate Hindi songs. So he adopted Pundit Mahadeo Maharaj as his spiritual guru from whom he learnt the language as well as matters of Hinduism. During his attendance at the Mandir, he would sit and marvel at the skills of the dholak player and wished that he could become just as skilled. Every time he got an opportunity, Zoon would take the dholak and roll his fingers on it and before long he began improving. He believed that the dholak was the musical instrument destined for him and spared no effort in obtaining one. Armed with his own instrument, he spent long hours practicing beats and in time he mastered the various techniques. It wasn't long before he was able to accompany singers and other musicians in satsanghs and Yagnas. From religious occasions he graduated to playing for film and classical singers during weddings, social functions and public stage performances. He played for some other country's top classical singers such as Henry Tooloom Dindial, Yusuff Khan and Lalchan Jaglal. On 5th February 1983 he passed on to the great beyond leaving his family, friends and fans in a state of shock. He is no doubt one of the most versatile and accomplished dholak players in Trinidad and Tobago, and an example of what perseverance can accomplish. Orchestration CHOTE SANGEET SAAJ The Chote Sangeet Orchestra, was formed at the Cap-De-Ville Government primary school in 1962. The band's original name was "Chhoti Sanget Saaj" and was given by a female school teacher, by the name of Miss Daisy Singh. She encouraged Mr Chunee Lall, to allow his children, Ramlall, Chandrautie, Vinod and Vishnu to use his instruments at school. The band performed at school concerts and once had the privilege of performing for then Prime Minister, Dr. Eric Williams, when he visited the school. The band also entered many "Aunty Kay" shows which were aired live on Radio Trinidad, and always copped the first prize. The band was led by Ramlall Chuneelall and as the children graduated, the band moved out of the school phase and onto a larger stage, They began adding several new members and the main driving force continued to be Mr. Chuneelall senior. He checked the lyrics on every singer's selection to make sure that the hindi was correct and pronounced properly. Soon, the band did several recordings: these were with Mr. Moen Mohammed on Radio Trinidad, Mr. Hans Hanoomansingh on 610 Radio and Indian Variety with Rafi Mohammed on TTT. They also began entering competitions and performed on almost every stage in T&T, including Queen's Hall, Naparima Bowl. The name soon evolved after members decided to remove the word "Saaj" and replace it with "Orchestra" to give it a modern touch. The Chhoti Sangeet Orchestra became dormant in 2004, after Mrs Chunee Awards continues on Page 12