Derek Achong

Se­nior Re­porter

derek.achong@guardian.co.tt

Two vet­er­an in­di­vid­ual mas­quer­aders, in­clud­ing one who vowed to nev­er com­pete again, added to their tro­phy cab­i­net while por­tray­ing cos­tumes by the same ac­claimed San­gre Grande-based de­sign­er yes­ter­day morn­ing.

Joseph Lewis, who won the Car­ni­val King ti­tle in 2019 and 2022, and Rox­anne Oma­lo, who won her first Car­ni­val Queen crown in 2020, emerged vic­to­ri­ous over nine strong com­peti­tors at the end of the Di­manche Gras show at the Queen’s Park Sa­van­nah, Port-of-Spain.

Both por­trayed cos­tumes by pro­lif­ic de­sign­er Var­ma Leo Lakhan.

While it was an emo­tion­al mo­ment for both mas­quer­aders, it was even more so for Lakhan, whose fa­ther died be­fore the pre­lim­i­nary round of the an­nu­al com­pe­ti­tion.

“It was a rough sea­son. We did what we had to do. We could not hold back the pro­duc­tion,” an emo­tion­al Lakhan said in a brief in­ter­view af­ter the re­sults were an­nounced.

“I know he (his fa­ther) would be re­al­ly hap­py tonight to know this,” he said.

Lakhan, who had five cos­tumes in both com­pe­ti­tions, praised both mas­quer­aders, who ex­pert­ly an­i­mat­ed his grandiose yet in­tri­cate de­signs as they crossed the stage in front of the judges.

“They did an amaz­ing job. I think it was time that they took the crowns to­geth­er,” he said.

Oma­lo, a proud res­i­dent of Ma­yaro, ad­mit­ted that Lakhan con­vinced her to reen­ter the com­pe­ti­tion af­ter she vowed to re­tire from com­pet­i­tive in­di­vid­ual com­pe­ti­tion af­ter her first win.

“When my de­sign­er calls, I have to come back. He said I need­ed you and here I am to­day,” she said.

Oma­lo al­so promised to re­turn to de­fend her crown next year.

“At the end of the day, re­tire­ment noth­ing,” she said, as she ded­i­cat­ed her vic­to­ry to her son and daugh­ter.

An ec­sta­t­ic Lewis ded­i­cat­ed his vic­to­ry to Lakhan’s broth­er Ravi, who was a favourite in the pre­lim­i­nary round of the com­pe­ti­tion with a Greek mythol­o­gy-themed cos­tume but failed to make the fi­na af­ter his cos­tume fell over due to strong wind in the semi­fi­nals.

The el­der Lakhan was still present to as­sist his broth­er and lend sup­port and en­cour­age­ment to fel­low band­mates.

“I promised him, af­ter what hap­pened in the semi­fi­nals, I told him I am com­ing out to­day with a vengeance,” Lewis said.

“I said it and it hap­pened. Ravi this is for you broth­er,” he added.

Oma­lo’s cos­tume, Queen Taran­tu­la, fea­tured a men­ac­ing crim­son and black arach­nid with dread­locks, while Lewis’ Xhirko­mak - The Lord of The Un­der­world paid homage to the Grim Reaper char­ac­ter, com­plete with an over­sized scythe.

Both were among the largest in the com­pe­ti­tions and fea­tured sim­i­lar py­rotech­nics and ma­te­ri­als which made them daz­zle un­der the stage light­ing. The duo al­so se­lect­ed Kees Dif­f­en­thaller’s Mir­a­cle to cross the stage.

In sec­ond place in the King com­pe­ti­tion was Mar­lon Ram­per­sad, with his li­on-themed D Spir­it of Pan­thera - Leo, which he de­signed and built.

Ram­per­sad, whose son An­to­nio won the Ju­nior Car­ni­val King ti­tle last Wednes­day, missed out on shar­ing the dou­ble ho­n­our with his son, as he scored nine points less than Lewis.

His wife Lau­ra placed fourth in the Car­ni­val Queen com­pe­ti­tion with a cos­tume that ul­tilised Ram­per­sad’s trade­mark de­sign, which is ad­just­ed each year based on their band’s theme.

Dana Ram­per­sad’s Flight of the Monarch But­ter­fly, which was al­so de­signed by Lakhan, placed sec­ond in the Queen com­pe­ti­tion, af­ter lead­ing the pack in the pre­lim­i­nary and semi­fi­nal rounds.

Ray­mond Mark and Priya Na­gas­sar, who won their first ti­tles to­geth­er last year, placed sixth and fifth in the re­spec­tive com­pe­ti­tions.

Se­nior Car­ni­val Queen

1. Rox­anne Oma­lo - Queen Taran­tu­la - 427

2. Dana Ram­per­sad - Flight Of The Monarch But­ter­fly - 423

3. Sav­it­ri Hol­lassie - Aza­lea-The Ser­pent Sor­cer­ess - 416

4. Lau­ra Ram­per­sad - Princes Takara - 415

5. Priya Na­gas­sar - Moth­er Na­ture-Beau­ty Of Na­ture - 411

6. Eliz­a­beth Lu­cas - Dance An­nie Dance, A Trib­ute to Tourist An­nie - 411

7. Pe­o­la Marchan - The African Monarch But­ter­fly - 410

8. Maria Davis - Mys­ti­cal War­rior Queen: Cel­e­brat­ing The Strength Of A Black Woman - 393

9. Tekeyah Fletch­er-Mar­shall - The Dream Catch­er - 393

10. Tur­ona Ramb­harose - Wa­ter Is Life - 392

Se­nior Car­ni­val King

1. Joseph Lewis - Xhirko­mak - Lord of The Un­der­world - 428

2. Mar­lon Ram­per­sad - D Spir­it of Pan­thera Leo - 419

3. Arif Gran­tum - Guardian of The Mys­ti­cal Realm - 419

4. Fareid Car­val­ho - Ak­ta­pas - 417

5. Er­ron Sookdeo - Wind-The Raw Pow­er of Na­ture - 412

6. Ray­mond Mark - Spir­it Dance - Cel­e­brat­ing The An­ces­tors’ - 409

7. Adri­an Young - Mas­quer­ade of Tra­di­tion - 399

8. Rus­sell Grant - Bo­son Jumbie - 392

9. Ke­ston Ben­thum - Zan­shin The Age of Aware­ness-The Samu­rai’s Quest - 392

10. Glen De Souza - Grand Voleur - 381