Speng (fourth left) and the Bass Odyssey crew accepting the cheque from the Guinness girls. - Photo by Carl Gilchrist

THE CROWD made it known from early who it expected to win when MC Andsome Stephenson asked for a show of hands. In the end, they got exactly what they wanted, as Bass Odyssey and Jam Rock emerged victorious over Coppershot and Swatch International, respectively, in the Guinness Sounds of Greatness competition last Saturday night in Highgate, St Mary.

A massive crowd turned out, blocking the Highgate square, to witness the final showdown in the first round of the event. And no one left disappointed.

First up was St Ann champion Bass Odyssey versus the Kingston-based Coppershot. The sound systems were each given 20 minutes to juggle before being engaged in a tune-for-tune with 15 selections each, then dub-for-dub with seven specials each.

Coppershot started the juggling, with Small Voice on the microphone. They started with Sizzla's Can't Keep A Good Man Down, Solid As A Rock, and several other Sizzla tracks before Junior Gong's Welcome to Jamrock - and the crowd loved it!

Coppershot took the vibes higher, but near the end seemed to have lost a bit of steam and ended their stint to a more subdued audience.

Bass Odyssey, with their top selectors at another event, were represented by Lexxy and Speng against Stone Love. They started with a special from Assassin, followed by another special, but it was Ding Dong's Holiday, which awoke the crowd.

The tune-for-tune category was hot! Reggae, dancehall, ska, gospel, rock and roll were all featured.

But the dub-for-dub was even hotter. The best selection of the night was a Coppershot special featuring Tarrus Riley - Force Ripe (Good Girl Gone Bad). Bass Odyssey had no adequate answer.

Easy win

Coppershot won the category hands down, doubling Bass Odyssey on the judges' scorecard. But the St Ann sound had enough of a lead from the first two categories to hold on for a close victory.

The final tally was Bass Odyssey's 428 to Coppershot's 421.

Jam Rock versus Swatch International was just as exciting. Indeed, it was a clear contest between Pityless of Jam Rock and Maestro of Swatch.

In the end, Pityless didn't need pity from anyone, leading his sound to a 511 to 423 victory. But it wasn't as easy as the score might imply.

Swatch nabbed it

Jam Rock was first to spin and did well after a slow start with Chalice's version of the National Anthem and tunes from Fantan Mojah, Beres Hammond, Elephant Man, Capleton and others, before playing songs for the mothers from Kenny Rogers, Celine Dion and I-Octane.

Swatch did better. They started with two Capleton before moving into G-Whizz, Mavado, Chino, Ding Dong, Vybz Kartel, Beenie Man and Merciless.

There was drama in the tune-for-tune segment. Pityless had discarded the jacket he wore when he first appeared onstage. But he went back for it to answer Maestro with a gospel selection. After donning his jacket, he pulled out a Bible from his back pocket, read a couple verses, chatted in tongues and then played Glacia Robinson's Hold My Hand. The crowd went wild! It was definitely the moment of the night and seemed to have turned the tide in favour of Jam Rock.

Swatch helped to sink themselves with a terrible error. After Maestro hyped the crowd for a Ninja Man, the selector played a Bounty Killer.

From then on, there was no stopping Jam Rock.

The winners each collected $100,000 for their effort from Guinness.