JUDGES of the Our Telekom carol competition in Auki, Malaita, have been accused of biasness.
The accusations came from members of the Anglican community at Auki.
This came after their choir groups namely St Paul and Logania have been eliminated from the competition.
Chairman of St Paul, Joseph Au said they blamed the judges for biasness because most of them are member of South Seas Evangelical church (SSEC).
Mr Au said whilst they appreciated the carol competition, they were surprised that it turned out to be a drama or chorus competition.
“The winners of the competition displayed drama and singing chorus and they were selected,” he said.
“Most the winners are from SSEC churches,” he claimed.
Mr Au said there seems to be no consultation with Our Telekom and the judges.
“There is no proper planning because it has created divisions among churches,” he said.
Atol Matangani of Logania said Our Telekom has spent about $23,000 on prizes therefore it should bring independent judges with musical judges from Honiara.
Mr Matangani said most of the judges come from SSEC church and they selected groups from their church for the final on Saturday night.
He said they were not happy with what the judges were doing on the competition.
However, Our Telekom media officer, Lawrence Nodua said singing was one part of the criteria.
He said there were other criteria where the judges looked at like creativity, appearance and attire, organisation on and off stage, crowd appeal, harmony, and melody for English and language songs.
The competition will observe rest day today to allow the winners to prepare for the finals tomorrow night.
Eastern Stars, Lillibeez and Zion Rivers have qualified for the finals already.
The winner of last night competition will join the trio.
The Solomon Star could not get the result after it went to press last night.
The winner will receive $8,000, followed by $6,000 for second place, $5,000 for third place and $4,000 for fourth placing.
By EDDIE OSIFELO
in Auki, Malaita
