SHALLEIKA HAZELL is no stranger to performing on stage in front of big crowds. In fact, she even won the 2005 Junior Calypso Monarch competition.

But little did she know that in 2023, Ian "Bunji Garlin" Alvarez would spot her in the audience singing one of his songs word for word and invite her to mash up a fete alongside him.

Hazell, a reliability engineer at Shell and a long-time fan of the viking, went viral on social media for performing Garlin's 2023 hit song Hard Fete – arguably one of the season's most lyrically brilliant songs – at Fete Gala on Saturday night.

This was Hazell's second fete for the 2023 Carnival season.

She told Newsday she bought her ticket immediately after it was announced that Garlin would be performing.

[caption id="attachment_998729" align="alignnone" width="683"] Shalleika Hazell sings at Fele Gala on Saturday. - Sir Ian Davis[/caption]

"I've loved Bunji since I was a child and everybody was like, 'Let's find something to go that he would be at.'"

She did not attend with the intention of ending up on stage, but jokingly posted to Twitter that same day saying: "How to reach on the stage with Bunji?"

She told Newsday, "I left all my friends as soon as he came on stage. I ran all the way to the front and I wasn't around anyone I knew."

In the middle of performing Hard Fete, Garlin spotted her and a few others who were really hyped by that song in particular. But then he realised she knew every word and passed the microphone to her as she was hyped up by several people.

"My hand was up singing and he offered the mic to me. He was like, 'Yuh sure?' and I say 'Yeah!'"

After a flawless delivery of the song's first verse, she was then invited on stage.

She said two things were on her mind while all this was happening – her disbelief that she tweeted about something like this happening, and her involvement in the performing arts as a child coming full circle.

The year she won the Junior Calypso Monarch, she defeated the likes of Erphaan Alves (second place), Sekon Sta (eighth), and her own sister, Sheynnene Hazell (fourth) and Amrika Mutroo (ninth).

Asked if she was nervous when brought on stage with Garlin, she said the good energy from the crowd helped ease all of those feelings.

[caption id="attachment_998728" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Shalleika Hazell performs on stage with Bunji Garlin at Fete Gala on Saturday. - Sir Ian Davis[/caption]

"Everybody was already hyped up, so by the time I got on stage, the energy was already there."

Not only did she sing the words, she performed like a true artiste, pausing for the crowd to sing certain parts, making use of the stage space, among other things.

By the time she got home and tried to tell her mother about the experience, she was told, "Girl! I've seen videos!"

She said notifications on all her social media platforms have been crazy.

"A lot of my friends who didn't go but saw the videos were