MONTEGO BAY, St James — The 19th staging of Reggae Sumfest came to its climax Sunday morning at the Catherine Hall Entertainment Complex in Montego Bay with some outstanding performances.

US-based rapper Nicki Minaj, on her first performance in Jamaica, managed to excite the crowd with her expletive laced songs.

It would have been interesting to see what would have happened had those same expletives come from the lips of our own Jamaican performers. Two nights before, singjay IOctane admitted on stage that he was warned by the police not to perform the ganja-loving Puff It. Yet Minaj enjoyed the privilege of one expletive after another without any form of warning or sanction.

Nonetheless, her many fans, who seemed totally carried away, didn't mind. Whatever she dished out they were more than willing to lap up. Among the winning numbers she performed were Dungeon Dragon, Bottoms Up, My Chick Bad, Your Love, Monster, Bedrock and Moments For Life. Minaj also scored with her attempts to talk Jamaican and she totally wooed the crowd with her stage dramatics and appealing presence. If there was one negative about her performance where the fans were concerned, it was the shortness of her stint, as some openly commented on how quickly she exited the stage.

Coming after Nicki Minaj’s explosive performance, was Wayne Wonder who easily took control of the crowd with numbers like Searching, Saddest Day of My Life and Taking A Ride. During his stint, it rained briefly, but he was so in command that patrons chose to stand in the rain using their chairs as umbrellas.

Wonder continued through his paces with other popular numbers, such as Slowly But Surely, Bashment Girl, Nothing But Love and Affection before doing a tribute for his incarcerated friend Buju Banton, performing some of hits which included Untold Stories. “Big Up Buju, you are a real soldier, you never took any plea but deal with it like a champion.”

Wonder closed his set with his mega hit No Letting Go.

Son of Montego Bay, Jah Cure could do no wrong on stage as he made his entrance to a warm welcome launching immediately into I Know Jah Jah Bless Me. After going through numbers, such as Love Means, King In This Jungle and a very emotional True Reflection, he turned the temperature up by getting rid of his shirt and showing off his torso, tattoo and all.

“Girls can I ask you a question?” he said to a loud chorus of yes. “Do you think I am sexy?” If he was uncertain about his sex appeal all his doubts were laid to rest with the overwhelming response in the affirmative.

Turbulance showed that he is one passionate Rasta as he had the ladies screaming through his performance. His declaration of “Rasta loving a di best” was no joke as “Mr Notorious” easily connected with Ex-Girlfriend, Name and Number and I Still Care For You. Turbulance hit out at artistes who negatively described women, adding that “women should not be disrespected, they are princesses and mothers of the earth.”

Earlier in the evening, young reggae songbird Cherine Anderson delighted by showing her musical versatility. She played the guitar as she sang the lyrics to Good Love. With the guitar segment out of the way she danced her way into the media section where she gently pulled onstage an Italian male visitor. “I'm gonna show you how to dance” the vibrant, pint-sized singer told her Italian fan. Dance she did, sexily gyrating as she sang the lyrics to Good Love. It was obvious he was out of his element and was no match for her.

After Cherine's steamy performance Hezron was next. Always about the ladies, the artiste, backed by his harmonious back-up singers, easily wowed his way into the hearts of the thousands of females present with his sexy soul-filling love melodies. If churning the lyrics to songs, such as You Are Always On My Mind and Wait Until Tonight wasn't enough, he went the extra mile giving several ladies in the audience a rose much to their delight.

Ashley Martin, Denyque, Laza Morgan, Protojé and Gyptian also added their individual sparks to the Reggae Sumfest.

On the final night of Reggae Sumfest, another award was presented. This time it was to veteran singer Errol “ET” Webster who received the Reggae Icon award from the organisers. Sitting in his wheelchair he was serenaded by singer Janet Jones with Tina Turner's Simply The Best.

The Chalice Band, uniformly attired in white, brought the curtains down on Reggae Sumfest with a scintillating performance as they performed favourites, such as Praise Him, Sayonara and Good To Be There. It was during their segment also that tribute was paid to the late singer Gregory Isaacs with All I Have Is Love before calling on stage singer George Nooks who dished out some Isaacs favourites, among them Red Rose For Gregory and Night Nurse.

Coming so late in the morning, many, however, did not stick around to enjoy what turned to be a really great segment.

— Additional reporting by Simone Morgan