Saturday
March 1st, the night was lovely and warm, ladies and gentleman dressed to
impress, arrived to the "Champion Bubbler 2" dancehall contest with
anticipation. The event took place at Roundtree’s in Berkeley and this was a fitting
place for the diversity of the crowd was very apparent. Folks was representing from Cuba,
Japan, Jamaica and Trinidad to as far as Nigeria and Ethiopia.
The dancehall competition began at about 11:45 p.m. and the crowd rushed the stage to
gaze upon the lovely contestants as the first of ten women took their turn. Varying in age
from 22 to 39, the ladies of the contest were all beautiful and talented as some were
quoted for being stockbrokers, yoga instructors and nurses. DJ Doogie began to spin Sean
Paul and each contestant had about thirty-five seconds to show us what they had, hoping it
was enough to propel them into the next round which would be narrowed down to six
contestants.
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Most of the women were dressed in jeans and
fitted blouses. There were some stunna’s, complete in dancehall attire, including the
reigning "Champion Bubbler" Cola. Fit to wear the crown and own the
"Champion Bubbler" title she mashed up the place wearing a neon green wig and
purple glitter bikini. So with the wigs, stilettos and very revealing outfits along with
killer dance moves, decisions didn’t come easy. As the DJ played "Wey de
Mon" the six chosen to move on boggled and freaked the floor as if their lives
depended on the prize and with good intent, because "Cola" was one bad ass sista
with a wind like no other and poom poom shots that would put Lady Saw or Patra to shame. |
After about fifteen minutes, the ladies were on the wire and it was time for the
judges to pick the top three. As they took off into their zones, the crowd began chanting
for my personal favorite Mary, "Lady in Red" they called her, the gal was hot
like fiya and had the skills to give Cola good means to be afraid.
The decision was in, and the two to advance to the last and final round were Cola
(reigning champ) and Mary. Cola began boggling her way down the stage stairs and onto the
dance floor where she showed us why she is the "Champion Bubbler." Many whistles
and shots were licked off and the crowd was participating and screaming as she exited the
stage. Mary stepped to the stage with tight sporadic movements and dove under a
gentlemen’s legs and came back up, all the while she was "shaking that
thing." The music stopped and the judges seemed at a loss for scrutiny. The choice
was so hard for the judges that the ladies had to dance twice before the final decision
was made.
As the audience was getting fired up and chanting Mary! Mary!
Cola’s fan club tried to come even louder with a "Cola for dancehall queen"
response." The judgment was made by audience participation and by the end of it all,
many had lost their voices and the final call was made. The contest was deemed a tie and
both gals were sent off with two hundred and fifty dollars each and a smile on their face.
We got a final dance to Sean Paul’s "Get Busy" and the night wrapped up
with some Soca, by DJ Ubald. The dance floor was extremely hyped from the competition and
people gave it all they had until the lights came on in. The "Champion Bubbler
2" definitely was the place to be that Saturday night and for those that did not
attend, you missed out. The vibe was tight, all the ladies looked gorgeous (contestants
and non) and the music was some of the wickedest I’ve heard in a while at the
dancehall. You just better make sure you make it to "Champion Bubbler 3" because
it’s guaranteed to be more off da hook then "Champion Bubbler 2."
Story by Ms. Shania D.
