BARBADIAN SIGNING SENSATION Rihanna has broken virtually all international sales records; Shontelle Layne - of Harrison College and Cave Hill fame - has stormed up the US Top 40 charts with her opening hit song T-shirt; and following closely in their wake are such young Barbadian talents as Hal Linton, Livvi Franc and Vita Chambers.

With this type of irrefutable evidence of the tremendous musical talent possessed by the young people of Barbados, one would expect that the Barbadian governmental authorities would now be engaged in a hectic scramble to establish a national programme to harness this talent in a systematic manner, and to establish an industry that would deliver substantial financial and other benefits to Barbados. Regrettably, if one were to think in this logical and sensible manner, one would be wrong!

Sadly, there is no credible evidence that the authorities in Barbados have recognised the implications of the success of Rihanna and Shontelle, and are taking them seriously.

Two Sundays ago, Mr Richard Stoute held the finals of his annual Teen Talent Competition and 16 young entertainers put on an exhibition of singing and stagecraft, the likes of which we have not seen in Barbados for many a year. But alas, absolutely no-one of significance from the National Cultural Foundation, the Ministry of Culture, the Division of Youth Affairs or the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Commerce was there to witness the spectacle.

Apparently, none of the entities that should be extending themselves in the construction of a national music and entertainment industry had any interest in seeing what the cream of the new crop of young Barbadian singing and entertainers have to offer.

Well, we would like to say, for the record, that virtually every single one of the 16 young singers demonstrated they possessed the ability required to join the Rihannas, Shontelles and Hal Lintons in the ranks of international recording artistes.

Mind you, we are not saying all are capable of emulating the success of Rihanna, but we are maintaining that virtually all of them possess the raw talent required to ply their trade at the international level and to earn foreign exchange for Barbados.

So, the PEP would like to publicly recognise and acknowledge the talents of Jaleesa Greaves (winner), Kibibi Greenidge, Akerre Alleyne, Lisa Mayers, Shenise Marshall, Rashad Welch, Shadia Marshall, Charmaine Bradshaw, Jaleesa Mayers, Shakera Hunte, Jabari Hurdle, Crystal Jordan, Keshee' Moore, Leah Austin, Sabrina Mayers and Cherish Breedy.

We have deliberately included 13-year-old Cherish Breedy because, even though she was a guest performer rather than a contestant. She added immeasurably to the talent on display, with an exhibition of singing that surely cannot be surpassed by any other 13-year-old anywhere else on the planet!

So, the talent exists, but there is a desperate need for a serious national programme to take it to the next level. We cannot simply be content to sit back and wait for the occasional visiting talent scout to come to Barbados and "discover" a young virtuoso. We really must do better for our talented young artistes.

We also need to heed the very sensible warnings of Phil Phillips and Richard Stoute that we have made a serious mistake by transforming our musical culture from a year-round one into a three-month, "seasonal" culture based on the Crop-Over Festival, and by placing so many of our eggs in the restricted "soca/kaiso" basket.