Ted Eustace retained his King of Carnival title when his portrayal 'Crypto'-Lord of the Galaxy” amassed 431 points to defy all comers at the Grand Stand, Queen's Park Savannah on Tuesday.
Eustace, whose costume depicted an over-sized extra-terrestrial, had to defy a stiff challenge from “Falconidae - D Desert Prey”, the portrayal of his older brother Curtis, a nine-time King of Carnival.
In the preliminary round of the competition, Curtis' golden falcon with its flapping wings and rhythmic head movements was 14 point adrift of his brother, but he was unable to make any headway, earning 415 points to be 16 shy in second.
The surprise of the evening was Keston Benthum's “Nibinabe”. His portrayal of an imposing God-like representation in well-blended colours of light blue, white and purple, depicting the source of life, impressed the judges enough to earn him 409 points, that saw him snatch third place away from Ravi Lakhan's ”Nazgul Harbinger of Death”.
Benthum picked up 43 points more than he accumulated in the prelims, in moving 11 position up the ladder, relegating Lakhan to fourth.
And in competition among the queens, Krystal Thomas created quite a stir when her portrayal “De Nebula” prevailed in a tiebreak over “Sheera The Ice Queen” the costume of frontrunner Roxanne Omalo, to clinch the Queen of Carnival title.
Her large bird with an elongated neck, wide wing spans and flowing tail was adorned with an array of soft and bright colours as she smoothly manoeuvred her way across the stage.
Thomas earned 378 points to finish 11th in the preliminary round, however, adjustments to her portrayal saw he collect 430 points, same as Omalo, to eventually triumph via the tiebreak rule.
Omalo, a veteran masquerade, was left still seeking her first title after her portrayal of a queen decked in white and surrounded by three sabre tooth tigers with glowing eyes had jointly topped the prelims with Kay Mason, where they both earned 406 points.
Mason dropped down the order to finish sixth.
And Rose Marie Jagessar climbed three notches to cop third place with her portrayal “Queen Chirapaq - A Tribute to Esther Theodore”.
