Mal­abar Sec­ondary School has emerged cham­pi­ons of the sec­ondary schools di­vi­sion of the bpTT Na­tion­al Ju­nior Parang Fes­ti­val 2012, which took place at Brazil Sec­ondary School over the week­end. The de­ci­sion of judges Dr Sylvia Mood­ie-Kublals­ingh, Jose Her­nan­dez, Vanes­sa Mar­cus, An­nette Hunte-Lessey and Lisa Dar­manie was met with sus­tained ap­plause from the packed hall of parang afi­ciona­dos, as the Mal­abar paran­deros col­lect­ed $8,000 and the huge chal­lenge tro­phy for its win­ning per­for­mance on Sun­day.

On Sat­ur­day, New­town Boys RC School, copped the pri­ma­ry schools cham­pi­onship ti­tle, eclips­ing its sis­ter school, New­town Girls' RC, which placed sec­ond. New­town Boys' RC al­so re­ceived $8,000 and a tro­phy. Run­ners-up in both di­vi­sions re­ceived $6,000, while third placed schools took home $4,000. Par­tic­i­pat­ing schools, which per­formed two songs for the com­pe­ti­tion, re­ceived an ap­pear­ance fee of $1,000. For the sec­ond year, a $2,500

Peo­ple's Choice Award is of­fered for each di­vi­sion, with vot­ing done by tex­ting spe­cif­ic codes, as well as us­ing the so­cial me­dia Face­book via bpTT Com­mu­ni­ty En­er­gy.

A to­tal of 29 pri­ma­ry schools showed off their mu­si­cal tal­ents on Sat­ur­day, while 20 com­pet­ed in the sec­ondary schools di­vi­sion on Sun­day. Now in its 34th year, the Na­tion­al Ju­nior Parang Fes­ti­val cel­e­brat­ed a bench­mark event. BpTT has part­nered with the Na­tion­al Parang As­so­ci­a­tion of Trinidad and To­ba­go (NPATT) as a spon­sor of the fes­ti­val since 1990. NPATT pres­i­dent, Dar­celle Charles, said the large turn-out by the schools demon­strat­ed that parang was "alive and well", adding that it was im­por­tant that the mu­si­cal tra­di­tion be pre­served and passed on through the young peo­ple.

RE­SULTS

BPTT Ju­nior Parang

Fes­ti­val 2012:

Sec­ondary schools

Cham­pi­ons: Mal­abar Sec­ondary

Sec­ond place: St Charles

High School

Third place: Barataria

North Sec­ondary.

Best Stage Per­for­mance: Moru­ga Sec­ondary

Best Mu­si­cal Pre­sen­ta­tion:

St Charles High School

Best Dressed School:

Barataria North Sec­ondary.

Best Lead Singer (Fe­male): Dana Reyes (St. Joseph's Con­vent,

St Joseph)

Best Lead Singer (Male):

Daniel Grif­fith (Pleas­antville Sec­ondary)

Best Lead In­stru­ment: Daniel Roverts (Holy Name Con­vent/Fa­ti­ma Col­lege)

Best Cu­a­tro: Mari­ka Seenath

(St Joseph's Con­vent)

Best Gui­tar: Ari­ma North Sec­ondary

Best Box Bass: Mercheacha McPher­son (St Charles High)

Best Mara­cas: Mikal Primus (El Do­ra­do East).

Pri­ma­ry Schools

Cham­pi­ons: New­town Boys' RC

First place: New­town Girls' RC;

Third place: Sa­cred Heart Boys' RC and Good Shep­herd (Tu­na­puna) AC.

Best Stage Per­for­mance: New­town Boys' RC

Best Mu­si­cal Pre­sen­ta­tion: New­town Boys' RC

Best Dressed School:

Ari­ma Girls' RC.

Best Lead Singer (Fe­male): Afre­sha Low­nan (San Juan Girls' Gov't

Best Lead Singer (Male):

Michael Jagdeo (New­town Boys' RC)

Best Lead In­stru­ment:

Chelsea Fen­son (New­town Girls' RC)

Best Cu­a­tro: Luke Lutch­man (Ari­ma Boys' RC)

Best Gui­tar: Neil Wal­cott

(Ari­ma Boys' RC)

Best Box bass: Anil Marchan

(La Veron­i­ca RC)

Best Mara­cas: Randy Phillip

(La Veron­i­ca RC).