[caption id="attachment_960179" align="alignnone" width="683"] Trinidad and Tobago's Emmanuel Joseph placed second in the 2022 PanoGrama finals. -[/caption]

Mathieu Borgne of France won the PanoGrama virtual pan competition on Sunday with his perfromance of Charlie Parker’s Donna Lee. Ten talented pannists representing five countries – Trinidad and Tobago, USA, France, Belize and Grenada – entertained viewers.

The event opened with the PanoGrama anthem, before esteemed adjudicator Dr Mia Gormandy-Benjamin delivered special remarks, a media release said.

Gormandy-Benjamin was happy to see academic institutions such as the University of TT and Northern Illinois University represented and said “the future of pan is bright.” She also revealed her excitement for the future of PanoGrama and encouraged youngsters to participate because “it is a wonderful experience,” the release said.

Performing from a chemistry lab, Emmanuel Joseph (TT) set the tone for the night playing Bell Biv DeVoe’s Poison. Each pannist ensured that their set-up and outfit complemented their tune of choice, much to the delight of the virtual audience. Aquila Pereira (TT) captured the essence of his tune, Portrait of Trinidad by the Mighty Sniper, with colourful imagery of well-known venues throughout TT.

Grenada’s Mikiel Smith showed that he was ready to help people survive in his doctor’s coat, complete with a stethoscope. He played Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive.

Shaquille "Flogo" Forbes’ (TT) electric performance of Michel Camilo’s Caribe concluded the pannists’ performance with piercing runs, confetti, and pyrotechnics.

Neptune’s Riddim Section, under their leader Jahvin Neptune, entertained viewers with an ecstatic medley of infectious beats, skillful dancers and Carnival characters before the results were announced.

Borgne’s calypso version of Donna Lee got the judges’ wooed the judges, while TT’s Hanif Goodridge’s heated performance of Maestro’s Fiery won him second position. Forbes, who won the semi-final round, had to settle for third.

Borgne will travel to the Bahamas courtesy the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture – Bahamas. He will also receive a Perfect Steel tenor pan and case, US$1,000 and a private session with a world-renowned pannist.

Forbes won the award for Best Dressed while David Yundi of the USA took the special prize for People’s Choice.

The results were as follows:

1. Mathieu Borgne (France) – 95.7 pts

2. Hanif Goodridge (TT) – 94.7 pts

3. Shaquille Forbes (TT) – 92.7 pts

4. David Yundi (USA) – 91.3 pts

5. Aquila Pereira (TT) –86 pts

6. Alexander Evans (Belize) – 85.7 pts

7. Jaron Woodsley (TT) – 83.3 pts

8. Mikiel Smith (Grenada) – 82.3 pts

9. Tevin Shockness (TT) – 80.0 pts

10. Emmanuel Joseph (TT) – 77.7 pts

Special Awards:

Best-Dressed – Shaquille "Flogo" Forbes (TT)

People’s Choice – David Yundi (USA

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