Brandon Captures 2k15 Piton Soca Starz Crown

Backed by the Evolution Band,

Brandon Harding, who is managed by Jako Productions and
whose main producer is Courtney
Louis of Dutch Productions, gave
two electrifying performances
Ola and Love Weon Saturday
27 June 2015 at the Brewery
Carpark in Vieux Fort, St. Lucia, to
capture the 2k15 Piton Soca
Starz Crown along with a cash
prize of $10,000.00, giving credence to writer and cultural activist, Dr. Anderson Reynolds of
Jako Productions, often repeated
claim that with regard to pure
singing prowess and entertainment punch Brandon is matchless.
Piton Soca Starz is staged by
the Windward and Leeward
Brewery under its agship brand,
the Piton Beer. The competition is
viewed as giving aspiring and up
and coming soca artistes a career
launching pad, and, along with
the Calypso Associations groovy
and power soca competitions,
represents the islands biggest
soca event. Monster, the inaugural Piton Soca Starz winner, has
since become one of the islands
biggest soca artiste, putting out
hits after hits. Indeed, quite a few
fans opinioned that Piton Soca
Starz has eclipse the groovy and
power soca competitions in popularity.
So understandably, Saturday
27 June 2015, there was magic
and great expectations at the
Brewery Carpark, that not even
an early evening shower could
dampen, much less keep away
the crowd. The carpark was lled
to capacity. On that night, accompanied on stage by dancers donning carnival costumes, body
paint, and madras cloth outfits
(Ola), and white t-shirts and cutof jeans (Love We), Brandon exhibited complete mastery of the
stage, marshaling all of his resources (vocal gymnastics, dance
moves, stage gimmicks such as removing his shirt, and rst using it

as a ag and then throwing it into

the audience, demanding of the audience to scream, wave, and sing
along), to give the performance of
his life, thrilling the crowd and keeping them enthralled from beginning
to end. One fan said that her rst
and lasting impression of Brandon
was that his performance was of
truly international standard, and
that both in terms of style and content he would have appealed to audiences in any part of the world.
Another fan said that Brandons
presentation of Ola was an out of
this world experience and gave him
goose bumps.
Brewery ocials hinted that
of all their Piton Soca Starz editions,
this years rendition was by far the
most competitive, and was of a
higher standard, both in terms of
quality of songs and quality of performers. If so, considering the increasing popularity of Piton Soca
Starz, it may not be long before the
winner of the event become an automatic entry into the nals of the
groovy and power soca competitions.
In the rst round of the competition each competitor had to perform a cover song, but in the second
and nal round they were given a
choice of a cover or an original. For
the second round, with Love We
printed on the T-shirts of his female
dancers, and Gyalist on those of
the male dancers, Brandon opted
for his original, Love We, which
turned out to be one of the crowd
pleasers of the competition. At the
end of the show, as the audience left
the carpark, many could be head
singing the chorus of the song: De
gyal them love we cah we popular,
left hickey on me neck like Dracula,
gyal love me some more, on the
bed, on the oor, suggesting Love
We as a hit in the making.
Dr.
Reynolds
does
unashamedly admit that although
he has been nurturing and managing
artists for almost two decades, he
cant sing a note nor can he hold a
chord on an instrument, but one of

his self-confessed talents is the ability to peel away the hype and
gimmick that surround the art world to get to the true underlying
talent. The music executive and award winning author said that six
years ago upon listening to then fourteen year old Brandon perform at a karaoke session he was so impressed that he was compelled to take the artist under the wings of his production house.
At the time karaoke was just about the only outlet Brandon had
for his prodigious talent. But Dr. Reynolds said that he has always
viewed karaoke as a lower level of the art-form, and beyond a certain point it can be counterproductive to an artists development.
Thus a year after discovering Brandon, even though the artiste
was regularly winning karaoke competitions, to get him away from
karaoke, Dr. Reynolds put together a band called Changes for him,
which today has metamorphosed into Phases.
Dr. Reynolds revealed that he sees a lot of Michael Jackson in
Brandon. Indeed, in terms of physical prole, stage charisma,
singing intensity, and entertainment punch, the two artists are
much alike. Michael Jackson has apparently had a great impact on
Brandons style and artistic sensibilities. And as if to proof his manager right, one of the most electrifying moments of Brandons
Piton Soca Starz crown winning performance was when he did
Michael Jacksons Moon Walk.
A Brandon performance is like watching a maestro at work;
with a combination of sweetness, explosiveness and intensity he
compels an audiences attention, leaving them no choice but to
enter into his enchanted musical world, and once they have entered, as if hypnotized, they are at his mercy, at his command,
doing whatever he instructs them to do. At the hotels, he compels
even the elderly, whose limbs can barely remember the dance
moves of their youth, to get up and dance. Last year, at Creative

Industries Micoud Bon Tan, the Phases Band gave such a mesmerizing performance that they were accused of raising the dead at
the cemetery sitting across from the stage.
According to Dr. Reynolds, another dimension to Brandons
talent is that he isnt one of those artists who sounds great in the
studio under control environment but not so great on stage. In
fact, he says its the opposite; Brandon is at his best on stage, facing an audience, the bigger the audience and occasion, the better
he performs, the hallmark of a star.
If Brandon is anyone to go by, then Dr. Reynolds assertion that
he has a talent for picking talents may have some merit, for clearly,
based on Brandons crown winning performance, he is a special,
one of a kind talent. With Piton Soca Starz the Brewery prides itself on discovering talent and providing aspiring artists a launch
pad for their career; well, they couldnt have crowned an artist
with more potential of making them proud, and of establishing a
presence on the international stage. For those who have been
comparing Piton Soca Starz with the groovy and soca power competition, they can feel vindicated, for Brandons electrifying and
out of this world performance would have won any competition
on any stage. And the other Piton Soca Starz Finalists should feel
no how for losing out to Brandon, because they would be hard
pressed to nd a more talented and a more worthy competitor.
To watch Brandons Piton Soca Starz 2k15 crowning performances, please visit the following youtube links:
https://youtu.be/azQljwPoPX0, https://youtu.be/azQljwPoPX0.
To listen to some of his original music, please follow him on Reverbnation (http://www.reverbnation.com/brandonharding).
And to watch his band, Phases, in action please follow these
youtube links:https://youtu.be/FHWSiYyrXHA,
https://youtu.be/ZsE9XGKvBl0, https://youtu.be/U5kqAq2mi1U.