REGGAE-BOYS Fahad Sayyar and Issa Al Haji proved to be a sunny sensation by taking their Jamaican-inspired rhythms to the beach at the Lost Paradise of Dilmun Water Park.
The boys took the top prize at the attraction’s annual ‘LPOD’s Got Talent Show’ by thrilling the crowds with a stunning rendition of the late Bob Marley classic No Woman No Cry.
Judges, Adam Page, the resort’s head of marketing and public relations, and business student Summaya Yousif Abdullah, described the boys performance as ‘amazing’ in a hotly-contested final which also featured a seven-strong break dancing team and singing duo Mohammed Al Wazzan and Abdulaziz Al Rowayi.
Mr Page said: “The competition was fantastic. We had lots of people competing and the three final acts were more like professional performances than those of a humble talent show entrant.
“The winners were the favourites from the start – the moment the judges and the audience closed their eyes it was like hearing Bob Marley and his band performing on stage once more, only to open them again and witness two musicians who obviously love his music.
“It was a tough competition. All three acts were outstanding but there had to be a winner.”
Keyboard player Fahad and singer/guitarist Issa regularly play in a seven-piece reggae-tribute band called The Legends which was formed two years ago. They were delighted to take first place in a contest which has been running at the water park for over six weeks.
Fahad, 19, from Muharraq, a banking and finance student studying at the University of Bahrain, said: “Everybody loves Bob Marley. His style is special and we have loved his music for years.”
Fahad’s uncle and band manager, Nedal Al-Attawi, explained that the boys belonged to a group of music lovers in Bahrain who loved playing and listening to reggae, a musical genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s.
While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady and is based on a rhythmic-style characterised by accents on the off-beat.
The late musician Bob Marley remains the most widely known and revered performer of the genre, and is credited with helping spread it to a worldwide audience. He is said to have claimed that the word reggae came from a Spanish term for ‘the king’s music’.
Nedal explained: “The boys have been fans of reggae since they were small children. Bob Marley is their inspiration as they relate to the singer’s lyrics and words on peace and poverty and how he delivered his message to his fans.”
The winners were awarded two printers, two DVD players, a voucher for the Gulf Hotel and two LPOD annual ‘splash down’ passes.
