By Claire Bijou
CSMS Magazine
Sunday November 23rd, 2015, my sisters and I (Daniella and Juline) stepped into Le Villate Pétion Ville to take part of the 3rdanniversary of Allélouia FM and the Allélouia Award. Last year around the same time, Allélouia FM flew in the group Alabanza for this special occasion. The night was sure to be full of surprises.
At the front desk, we paid for our tickets and were given a coupon to vote for the Public Choice Award. On a separate table were boxes with different names written on them, such as Tami, Nicky Christ, Angel Family, D.EG. (Dieu est Grand) and Frederson Joseph. Of course I won’t tell you who I voted for. Now, upon entering the big room, the first thing we noticed was the lack of attendees. Considering we were almost an hour late, and the program hadn’t yet started. Certainly, this was not going to deter us from having a good time.
We then were led to our seats by a young beautiful lady who was part of the protocol and was dressed in a white shirt and an orange skirt. Along the way, we said hello to a couple of friends. Upon reaching our seats, we could hear a really nice Christian song with a techno beat being played. The song was really beautiful and I learned to know the artist.
Fifteen minutes later, the show still hadn’t started, which of course brought in a lot of complaints from the audience. Slogans such as Haitians are always late in their events started circulating around the room. Still, people waited. Finally 20 minutes later Myriam Charles, the MC for the night, stepped onto the stage. The first thing she did was to make the public laugh. She is totally gifted in that arena. She then called Pastor Jacky Chery onto the stage for the prayer.
Right after the prayer, Mrs. Charles introduced the judges in the panel for the awards. Later, each of the judges admitted that the choices were not easy. Each then quoted this unified line, “Everyone is a winner regardless of who won tonight.” Well, that was quite interesting. She then called the group Hosa to the stage, which after 5 minutes of checking up the equipment finally performed. I must admit they gave a real nice performance.
Right after their performance, the award for “Révélation de L’année” (This year’s revelation) was given to D.E.G. (Dieu est Grand/GOD is Great). This choir is well known for interpreting the song When Jesus says yes in a heart-wrenching Creole version. In Port-au-Prince, whenever that song is being played, you have to get up and dance.
After the Revelation Award, Frederson Joseph walked onto the stage to sing his most famous song of the day: Bondye mwen bezwen kounya (It’s God I need now.) Next, the Album of the Year award was given to Jameson Innocent for his song Pou glwa non ou (For the glory of His name). Sadly, he was unable to make it. His manager, however, who happened to be Myriam Charles, was more than happy to receive it.
This was soon followed by the award for the Best Choir of the Year. It went to Gospel Kreyol. Tami then gave a beautiful performance. The award for the Best Singer of the Year was given to Nicky Christ. Mrs. Charles had the pleasure to introduce Mr. Caleb Desrameaux, the newly elected Deputy of the west region. Mr. Desrameaux while on stage promised the public that he will continue to be who he is and that he is committed to continuing to host evangelical performances. I believe the public didn’t quite believe him. Mr. Desrameaux introduced the award for Best Song of the Year, which went to Frederson Joseph.
Now, it was time for the last award. Like I said at the beginning of the story, we had to vote for the Public Choice Award. Well, that moment finally came and the winner was none other than Frederson Joseph. Upon his arrival on stage, his song started playing, which of course he sang right along. The dazzling moment of the night came when he gave a young boy the microphone to sing. Watching the little boy singing with all his heart on stage blew the public away. What a beautiful moment that was! Was he the one who I voted for? Hmm that’s for me to know and for you to always ponder.
Finally, the lovely evening ended with a tease of a performance by D.E.G (Dieu est Grand). They came on stage looking like beautiful angels and they mixed 3 of their songs, which had us jumping and grooving. As the event ended, no one really wanted to believe it was indeed over. Overall, it was an enjoyable night, but I’ll look forward to a livelier event next year as Allélouia FM will have to celebrate its 4th anniversary.
Note: Claire Bijou is poet and novelist. She lives and works in suburban Port-au-Prince. Like us on Facebook. www.facebook.com/csmsmagazine
