Adrian Dutchin, the consummate, versatile showman of X2 fame, upstaged the competition at Guyana’s inaugural music awards handed out on Sunday night, picking up six of the crystal hardware and winning in every category he was nominated for, save one.

Joyful noise: In a moving performance of their combined talents gospel singers, Cherilyn Maloney (left), Eddie Neblett (centre) and Miriam Williams (right) rocked the Accolade Music Awards on Sunday night. (Photo by Obrey James)

The local hit, “Crazy” produced out of Kross Kolor Records, catapulted Dutchin and Jumo Primo (the other half of X2) to Accolade glory. They walked away with four awards between them. The group won Best Groovy Soca Single (Male); Soca Single of the Year; Best Colla-boration and Song of the year for “Crazy”.  The song also won its producer, Burchmore Simon, an Accolade for Best Soca compilation.

Dutchin, who also performs with the Krosfyah band out of Barbados, grabbed two individual awards for Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the year; his song, “Celebration” apparently having struck a chord with voters and the committee overseeing the awards. But music industry insiders and vocal and loyal followers of reggae group, First Born felt the popular “Irits” deserved the songwriting recognition.

Timeka Marshall lifts her award for Best New Artiste at the Accolade Music Awards on Sunday night. She also won for Best R&B Artiste. (Photo by Obrey James)

Nevertheless, First Born had a ‘bless up’ night, collecting four Accolades for Best Reggae Album; Album of the Year; Reggae Artist of the Year and Best Reggae Single for “Irits”.  Album of the year was the big one, and the reggae sensation deservingly won for its first studio album that had generated enormous buzz and renewed a conscious vibe in local reggae music.

“We happy for this crystal, keep them coming,” a member of the reggae group said while accepting for Album of the Year. But in a more appreciative way, the group recognized the award as being symbolic of a great stride in the local music industry. It hailed the Accolade Committee for taking the initiative, noting, “many lil youths grow up hoping for this, like First Born did”.

Guyanese Natural Black was up for several of the reggae awards, but he lost out to First Born. Natural Black, who now resides in Jamaica, was not in attendance.

Fojo, who received the most nominations of any artiste–an impressive nine–failed to win in any of the categories.

Big winner: Michelle ‘Big Red’ King accepts the award for Best Groovy Soca (Female) at the Accolade Awards on Sunday night for her single, “Guyanese wine”. Also in the photograph are singer Teneisha DeFreitas and promoter Mike Fung, who presented the award. (Photo by Obrey James)

John Drepaul, better known as ‘Slingshot’ picked up an award for the Best Soca Album (Solo, Duo or Group). He was not in attendance.

Local diva Timeka Marshall, who rose up from a Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T) jingle competition to almost instant celebrity status, grabbed two awards; Best R&B Artist and Best New Artist. The latter was a fitting recognition of the strides Marshall has made since her debut single, “Separate” launched. For the newcomer award, she was up against singers such as Celeste David and Mark Batson.

As Marshall stepped on stage to accept the first award, a fan in the audience shouted, “Next stop the Grammys”. She graciously received the Accolade and thanked everyone for being supportive, particularly GT&T, which she recognized as the company that gave her a start.

Going crazy: Jumo Primo (left) and Adrian Dutchin (right) of X2 perform the hit, “Crazy” at the Accolade Music Awards on Sunday night. (Photo by Obrey James)

“Kerwin we got one,” she said, in a shout-out to her manager, Kerwin Bollers. Marshall had been slated to perform but was pulled from the line-up as she was reportedly out of the country and was unable to make the rehearsals.

Local gospel star Eddie Neblett, also had a big night. He won in both the categories he was nominated for, Best Gospel Single of the Year (Male) and Gospel Artist of the Year. His hit “Love and Unity”, which was tremendously popular, was rewarded.

Female gospel artist, Cherilyn Maloney got the nod for Best Gospel Single of the Year Female.
An Accolade also went to Michelle ‘Big Red’ King for her song, “Guyanese Wine”. She picked up the Best Groovy Soca Single Female.

Woman power: From left: Delma Lynch, Celeste David, Czerina Ali, Teneisha DeFreitas, and Charmaine Blackman blending their voices for the opening music act at the Accolade Music Awards on Sunday night at the National Cultural Centre. (Obrey James photo)

A posthumous award went to calypsonian Vivian Jordan (Mighty VJ), who was named Calypsonian of the Year. VJ passed away in the US recently after losing a battle with cancer.

Terry Gajraj won the award for Chutney Artist of the Year (Male) while Queen Yasmin won in the same category for female. The award for Best Chutney Album went to the El Sadiek band, which recorded the popular “Stupidy” song.

Despite its late start, a few glitches and sparse attendance, the local music award show was an encouraging start. The performances were solid, particularly the opening number that included a line-up of local divas – veterans and newcomers. Celeste David and Teneisha DeFreitas powered their way through the performance, but it was the smooth and soothing voice of Delma Lynch that struck the right notes.

Performances by First Born and gospel singers Miriam Williams, Neblett and Maloney also stood out.

Prior to Sunday night’s awards show at the National Cultural Centre fifteen awards were handed out at the Pegasus Hotel on Friday last.