Entertainment

Overshadowing the positives

STING'S 20TH ANNIVERSARY came and went with a bang.

Literally. We should all have a fair idea of how that went.

The fallout, however, has gone down a very familiar and very unfair path. We have been inundated with pictures on Vybz Kartel and Ninja Man, the central figures in the conflict on stage, while those who did not get into the fisticuffs but put on decent showings have been left in the cold.

The relative levels of coverage for the clashers, as opposed to those who came to perform and put on an entertaining show for the people has just not been balanced.

By reports, Beenie Man did an outstanding job at Sting, especially coming into the breach between the feuding factions. As one report said, Beenie Man came on stage with shards of bottles still on the stage and put on a heck of a show. In addition, Elephant Man kept well clear of the fracas and did well with his dance hits and Santa Claus suit, beard and all.

However, the names we remember are the ones who fussed and pulled and shoved. And that is unfair.

In entertainment, unless you are Michael Jackson, there is no such thing as negative publicity. So, whether one likes it or not, it is Kartel and Ninja Man who starred the show. In reality, though, if the reports I read are anything to go by, it is Elephant Man and Beenie Man who came out and gave the people even a fraction of their money's worth.

It is a very familiar position for Elephant Man. At the Beenie/Bounty Sumfest conflict of two years ago, he put on a darned good showing. However, it was almost totally lost in the press. The conflict took all the headlines and mounds upon mounds of media space and time.

The pattern is disturbingly similar. Just as how Bounty Killer says that now that an attempt to make him the scapegoat is on, Merciless was the sacrificial lamb of that fateful Dancehall Night at Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest. The key difference is that while Merciless is not a major player Bounty Killer is and so Sumfest was able to dispose of Merciless.

Even if Sting does do away with Bounty Killer for a year, be sure that he will be back. And, quite frankly, Bounty Killer can do without Sting.

Then, the Sumfest organisers were mulling the fate of Dancehall Night - which promptly made a return the following year. Similarly, I expect that Sting will be very much around for its coming of age at 21 years next year. All this talk about scrapping it is, I believe, rubbish.

Frankly, I believe that the desire for money is stronger than any sense of moral decency - or regard for public safety - and the event will be back.

Of course, not many people who promote events have much interest in developing music anyway. Ditto for the performers. It is about the cash and whatever comes along with it.

Just as the positive performances suffered at the hands of the fracas at Sting, so has the bottle throwing at Sting overshadowed other events over the season that were, by reports and personal experience, very good. There was Stars R Us in Montego Bay, St. James, and Invasion in Ocho Rios, St. Ann on Christmas Day, as well as East Fest in Morant Bay, St. Thomas, on the day after Boxing Day.

High quality and decent - some adult oriented, of course - with 'indecent language' from Sizzla and Capleton being the only blotches.

But what will we, with the flood of press around Kartel, Ninja Man and Sting remember?

You got it.

It is very unfair.