By TANYA BATSON-SAVAGE, Freelance Writer
BY THE TIME madness had taken over at what should have been the Rising Stars final results show at Emancipation Park last Friday, many began to theorise what the problem had been. Many, of course, blamed it squarely on the shoulders of the patrons noting that they were too undisciplined.
The show's producer Sharon Shroeter, however, admitted that the chaos had been caused both because of indiscipline of the patrons and because the organisers had underestimated the crowd that would have turned out to the event.
Because they moved it to the park away from its regular home at Knutsford Court Hotel, it was clear that the organisers had expected a large crowd. But what arrived went beyond large, with an estimation of between 15,000 and 20,000 people. Along with the three mini-stampedes that took place, throughout the show people who could not deal with the heat and pressure from the press of bodies fainted and had to be taken out to waiting ambulances.
The show was eventually cancelled after several performances and is expected to take place on
Friday at the National Stadium. Interestingly, before the show was well under way, some patrons surmised that the huge crowd that turned out really belonged at the stadium.
Even so, the venue was only a small part of the logistics problem that existed at the show. A large segment of the audience, which spilled well beyond the paved show area and on to the lawns could neither see nor hear what was happening. The two large screens put up on either side of the stage to enhance visibility were woefully inadequate for the crowd.
Flawless presentation
As such it could easily account for much of the pushing and shoving and even the climbing into the trees. Much of the behaviour which led to the show's postponement seemed to have been motivated by the audience's inability to see.
Some patrons offered more solutions than merely changing the venue. "Oonu fi charge we!" called one woman at the end of the show. "Yes, $500!" another called in agreement. It was a sentiment that went through several of the patrons especially those who had been regulars at the result shows.
Some Knutsford Court regulars were quite upset that what was usually a flawless presentation had been reduced to an evening of chaos. Even after the show had ended the crowd took some time to disperse. Numerous family members had been separated. One young girl presented a tearful picture as she cried her eyes out because she could not find her grandmother.
Additionally, although the postponement was announced at 7:25, after a 10-minute break after the most serious mini-stampede, a call of "We want Chris!" was maintained by much of the audience for several minutes after the show was aborted.
"This just shows the love they (the people) have for the show," Shroeter said. However, it was clear that what had unravelled at Emancipation was a little more than love.
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