SANDALS Ochi Beach Resort in St Ann took the lion’s share of awards in the Sandals Festival of the Arts talent competition (Ocho Rios) Regional Finals held on the property last Saturday.

The resort faced off with its sister property Beaches Ocho Rios.

Entertainment supervisors for both resorts agreed that the winners at last Saturday’s competition have a great chance of taking the top prizes at this Saturday’s National Finals at Sandals Ochi.

“We have a great regional team and we intend to take National Finals,” said Gerine Thompson, entertainment supervisor at Sandals Ochi.

Her colleague Orville Whyte (Beaches Ocho Rios) shared the same sentiments.

A vast array of talents were showcased during last Saturday evening’s competition. These included male and female models, spoken word, group and solo dances, instrumentals, male and female vocalists and a disc jockey clash.

Each resort brought their cheering squad and the supporters were equally confident in their resort’s ability to take home each category.

“Beaches came to win! We have the talent and we will be showing it off. Of course, we will be taking the top prizes,” said Jermaine Hart, Beaches Ocho Rios food and beverage manager.

Tennile Tate, concierge at Sandals Ochi, exclaimed: “This is Sandals Ochi! All we do is win! We won most of the categories last year. We will only be defending our title this year.”

When, dust settled, Sandals Ochi dominated the majority of the performances. The winners included Shanika Watson (Female Model), Ricardo Gray (Male Model), Jhenel Greenland (Spoken Word), Melvin Gray (Dance Solo), Shanet Messam (Female Vocalist), Daniel “DJ Turner” Turner (Disc Jockey).

Beaches Ocho Rios’s Tarique Johnson took the award for instrumentalist; Shanique Geddes and Shandae Walters (Group Dance); and Alex Richards (Male Vocalist).

Formerly ENCORE, Sandals Festival of the Arts is an annual talent competition held between of the employees of the Gordon “Butch” Stewart-owned Sandals and Beaches Resorts.