[ENTERTAINMENT]:::Former Dancehall Queen Wants To Be A Deejay

No. 130 Friday, August 20, 2010
By Joel Lawson
If things go as expected, Tavia Morris could be on the roster for the 2011 Reggae Sumfest season. This is the dream of the 2009 Dance queen.

   When Tavia Morris gently placed her crown on the head of Kristal Anderson on Saturday, July 31, 2010 at Pier One in Montego Bay, it signaled the end of her reign as Dancehall Queen. She said it was an interesting 12 months. Her reign took her to Barbados and Europe. 
   Aspiring dancehall queens met her on her trips and expressed their joy at having her in their respective towns.
   When Tavia won the title in 2009, it brought relief to the Jamaican audience because she endured a failed bid to prevent the Red Label Wine International Dancehall Queen title from leaving Jamaica’s shore back in 2008.
   But a determined Tavia returned to the stage last year (Aug. 1, 2009) to get the better of 35 other girls to restore pride and joy to the island by bringing back the title from Canada. The buzz was stronger in the district of Mt. Salem where the new and 13th queen resides in the community of Catherine Mount.
   “Last year Tavia climb pole and lost,” said her hairdresser, fighting back tears of joy right after it was announced that Tavia had won the coveted crown.
   “This year mi seh, Tavia, don’t climb no pole.” However, it was a different situation for Tavia’s little sister who was busy wiping away trickles of tears after evading a tight security to present herself on stage for the coronation.
   Just like she did the previous year (i.e. 2008) the 26-year-old nail technician copped the prize for “Best Costume” and was the only Jamaican to win anything at all. It was an embarrassing 2008 for the Jamaican girls as not one of them could make it to the winners’ podium. That had never happened before in the 13 years of the competition.
   With all that behind her, Tavia is now raising the bar to achieve her real goal. Just watching Mavado, (Bounty Killer, to some extent), Tavia wants to exude some stage personality like that. She says she is not wasting any time, because the same ambition which enabled her to win the dancehall queen title is still alive and could pilot her onto the Sumfest stage next year.
   The $350,000 she won last year has been wisely invested, she insists. It’s on fixed deposit. She has a nine-year-old daughter, Quianna.