PA
NO
R
AMA
In 1963, the government of Trinidad and Tobago in conjunction with the National Association of Trinidad and Tobago Steelbandsmen (NATTS) launched a new steelband competition called Panorama.
Crowds of supporters religiously followed their favorite Panorama band every year. Corporate sponsors seized this excellent publicity opportunity and began to pump money into steelbands.
Panorama also demanded a new approach to arranging calypsos. The arrangements done previously for fetes and street parades were now too simple for the competition. Complex introductions and key modulations began to be used in the arrangements, and this is still a key feature of Panorama music today.
Panorama type competitions are now held all over the English speaking Caribbean, the USA, and in some European and Asian countries. They are planned by local steelband organizations and the structure and adjudication is usually based on that of the Trinidadian Panorama.
However, the Trinidadian Panorama competition remains the pre-eminent steelband competition in the world.