Curtis Eustace is Carnival KingBy NEWSDAY REPORTER Tuesday, February 20 2007
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LIONEL'S CARNIVAL VISION: Veteran Masman Lionel Jagessar portrayed "Wa Chink Sapa Native Healer" at the Carnival King competition at Dimanche Gras on ...
ANOTHER win for Curtis Eustace on Dimanche Gras night brought him the title of King of Carnival for the eighth time and he vowed, “I’ll be back again.”
From the moment he wheeled his portrayal “D Wrath of Tutankumhan” on the court at the Jean Pierre Complex, one could have detected “it was no big thing” for this seasoned masquerader.
The much intricate work on the costume from ancient history, won much praise from Eustace himself, who emphasised that his team from the band Sahara, produced by Island People, worked very hard on the costume.
He admitted it was heavy, but as he also said, “It was bad mind that drove me across that stage tonight. I just had to do it. One’s got to do what you’ve gotta do.” The name Eustace has usually been cropping up among frontline masqueraders over the years and for him on Sunday night, it was one of those heart-wrenching performances.
Like Tutankumhan who returned for vengeance, as ancient history has it, Eustace seemed intent on pulling it off. He had to, because another old-stager king, Geraldo Vieira Snr, was close on his heels. Vieira’s “Vision of the Snow Warriors” also looked like a winner with its horses and snow people.
The back half of the costume opened at times and from the centre came light snowflakes. Adding to the realism of the costume were numerous large icicles. Vieira, seemingly buried by all the frigidity that surrounded him, at no time seemed very cold. He was in his usual warm dancing mood, showing off his costume to the divided sections of the applauding audience.
Another old-stager, Lionel Jagessar Jnr, the Fancy Indian from San Fernando, backed by some 25 years experience from his mom and dad, showed why the family is so good at bringing such Mas. He was a resplendent Indian, with the many feathers and colours well inter-woven to present a true Fancy Indian.
Other impressionable characters, included “Scorpion King” from the Island People band Sahara which won two prizes — the first and fourth. The Mas was simple but very effective. He had the backing of a couple make-believe camels as he crossed The Sahara stage.
Roland St George’s entry as “Les Bijoux,” from the band The French Revolution made a grand entry with much fireworks from the costume, so much so that two standby fire officers were at the ready just in case anything went amiss.
