Cross River State Governor, Senator Bassey Otu, has presented cash prizes to winners of the Voices of Paradise Choral Competition.

The event, which started three weeks ago, when the 32 days Calabar Festival was flagged off, saw 14 choral groups compete in two categories namely classical and contemporary.

By the second week, four groups were eliminated leaving 10 to compete at the semi-final, which then gave rise to the eight choirs that qualified for the grand finale last Sunday.

At the end of the renditions, the Promise Land choir and Creator’s Family choir emerged first placed winners of the classical and contemporary categories respectively, and each presented with a three million naira cash prize.

Governor Otu, who witnessed the competition alongside his wife, Reverend Eyoanwan and his deputy, Mr. Peter Odey, presented the cash prizes to the first place winners.

In second place under the classical category were the Masters choir and the Xtreme Praise choral group, which emerged second best contemporary choir, thus, earning the first lady’s two million naira cash prize for the two sets.

The deputy governor, Mr. Odey presented the third place cash prize of one million naira to the VON Orchestra in the classical category, while Zamar Gospel choir also received the third position cash prize in the contemporary league.

In another development, excited spectators comprising families, relatives, friends and tourists gathered at the Calabar Botanical Garden for the 2023 Children’s Carnival dryrun, which saw seven registered carnival bands showcase their talents along the float that moved along the streets of Calabar.

The children, aged between two and 14 years old, full of energy and enthusiasm, defied the early evening harmattan to show off beautiful dance and choreography, which awed spectators and elicited resounding applause from everyone.