00:06Panorama Finals, the sacred Saturday before the greatest show on Earth.
00:11For decades it has been the night when Trinidad and Tobago crowns its steel band champion.
00:23It is the stage reserved for the titans of Pan, large bands whose players rush from work
00:30and school to Pan yards, night after night, driven not by money but by passion.
00:47Just two weeks separated semi-finals from the grand showdown.
00:52Arrangers and players worked against the clock, polishing every note, tightening every break.
01:08Massey Trinidad All-Stars delivered a performance worthy of a standing ovation from the grandstand audience.
01:14But crowd approval and judges' scorecards do not always align, as happened on this night.
01:30In all, 11 large bands took the stage, showcasing musical mastery to the savannah and to the world.
01:46In the birthplace of the steel pan, the only acoustic musical instrument invented in the 20th century, the stakes are
01:55always high.
01:57This year's presentations were noticeably more restrained, fewer grand props, less theatrical spectacle.
02:04The focus firmly on the music.
02:13And in a nod to modern trends, several popular artists join the bands, performing their soca hits live.
02:31For Desperados, Corrine Ash and McAltasia added star power and their stamp of approval.
02:38Tobago's lone large band contender came dressed for the school yard, turning the savannah into assembly time, complete with a
02:47high-energy appearance from the king of soca-turned-flagman,
02:51Marcelle Montano.
03:0413-time champions PP Renegades brought the mighty Sparrow's iconic lizard to the big stage.
03:11But lightning did not strike twice.
03:14After topping semifinals, Renegades scored 288 points on finals night, just one point shy of first place.
03:24That top spot belonged to St. Augustine-based Exeter Steel Orchestra.
03:40As notes hammered from oil drums echoed across the Queens Park savannah, Exeter celebrated back-to-back victories ending last
03:49year's 20-year drought and now cementing their dominance.
03:54We did a lot of hard work between the semifinals and now.
04:00Apart from what we felt was important was to do a big ending and a big closing.
04:05And we did a big ending, a different change ending, and change the opening.
04:12Panorama is a thing that really takes two things to happen, a few things to happen.
04:18One is a big opening, a big ending, and inside of there you get three or four walls.
04:24And that's where they win panorama.
04:26But beyond competition, he says Pan's true victory lies in community impact.
04:31All steel bands, not access alone, make a contribution to this community, to the whole country, that nobody understands.
04:45No government, no administration ever understood what steel bands do for this country.
04:50This year's season was not without challenges, with some state entities withdrawing sponsorship from bands.
04:57Well that was very awful.
04:59And it was awful not because it was taken away, you know, it was taken away, the timing was wrong.
05:04You know, I could understand people moving there, they're having to do what you've got to do financially.
05:10But the timing of it was wrong.
05:13Still, support on the ground remains strong.
05:16The chairman of the Tunapuna Pianco Regional Corporation, where Exodus is based, was on hand to celebrate the region's triumph.
05:24We brought Pan and Prouda to the region, locked off the streets of Tunapuna.
05:29And this is indicative of what we have been doing, the excellence in the region, the excellence in the East.
05:35And we're going to keep coming in 2027, we're coming again.
05:37I'm really proud of the East bands in the medium, small, large.
05:41We're really excelling and we can only look forward to 2027.
05:45And as Carnival and Valentine's Day collide, celebrations from Exodus are expected to continue well beyond the Savannah stage.
05:55Happy Carnival, Valentine's Day. I'm going to make love tonight.
06:00From rivalry to revelry, Panorama Finals 2026 once again proved that Pan is more than competition.
06:08It is culture, community and the beating heart of Trinidad and Tobago.
06:15How do you feel?
06:17How do you feel?
06:21How do you feel?
06:21For Vishit Tamwari, Rupnarain, TVSex News.
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