courtesy of: The Morning News
by Rosalie Klein
Carnival 58 witnessed a spectacular Tumba Festival on Saturday evening, January 28, as 13 bands performed alongside 23 vocalists presenting the same number of entries for the favorite Tumba song of 2012. Taking the title of Tumba King again with the song “Den Historia” was last year’s winner, Chendell Beaumont, accompanied by Rincon Boyz.
2nd place winner was Jeffrey Kelly with "Chuchubi ta Canta" accompanied by Robert Maduro and his Solo Banda. 3rd Place went to Richard "Tatoo" Quant and the Zeta Band with "Basha pa mi Bai" and 4th and 5th place was won by Chicho Kock and Jerrino Ridderstap performing "Mi cartera ta Fluit" and the song "Papiamento,” both accompanied by D’Licious Band. Richard Quant was named Most Consistent Performer, Roderick Franken was named most popular and Rincon Boyz won the title of Most Consistent Band.
Aruba’s Minister of Tourism, Transport and Labor, Otmar Oduber pleasantly surprised the community by being one of the performers along with the band Upgrade Music, and won the “Tumba Loco” category. The king was crowned at 1:45 A.M. in a fitting end to an exhilarating evening at the Aruba Entertainment Center, which utterly embodied the spirit and energy of Carnival. This year’s festival was dedicated to Federico Martes and Richard Quant, with a welcome warm up performance by veteran Ike Jeserum and the Zeta Band.
