a whimper on Saturday after a promising build-up.

The estimated 1,200 strong crowd were left unfulfilled at wind-up because time ran out abruptly just as the clash was reaching its crescendo.

The number one question on the minds of the reggae faithful was simple; Who won? No matter how many times that simple question is asked, the answer will be the same from now until the question is no longer asked. So let's do the honourable thing -- call it a draw.

The night began with a festive display of local talent in the form of African Pride (Sammy Dread and Sassa), Cyclone (Chuckie digital, Kelly Breeze and Mr.

McGoo), Genesis (Snake and Darren), Black Star (Jason Cuoco and Andrew Hanwell), and Playboy (Hightop and Kutchie).

Each of the sounds had 20 minutes to strut their stuff on stage and show off their array of dub plates.

Beenie man and Capelton were the two most popular Jamaican artists to pay tribute to local sounds.

Playboy "de outlaw movement'' overcame an array of technical glitches and in the end they had to use some other equipment.

Although not one of their better performances, Playboy's hour-long set fused slow jams, soca and R&B with dancehall and paved the way for the Jamaican acts -- Ghandi and Lady G -- that followed.

The crowd, which had kept a distance of about ten feet between it and the stage, rushed forward when Lady G and two dancers came out and strained to touch the Jamaican roots and culture diva.

Her presence, genial personality and honey-toned voice combined into a display that left the crowd enraptured.

By contrast Ghandi's eight minutes, while showing promise had little to excite the gathering and he exited just as coolly as he had entered.

Lady G departed the stage at 1.09 a.m. which left just over 45 minutes for the clash between Bermuda's own Soul Jah One and LP International out of New York.

Soul Jah One were first up with deejay Magic expertly mixing dub plates featuring Capelton, Beenie Man and Bounty Killa.

These selections elicited rousing applause and cap gun fire from the crowd that waved its hands in support.

Technical problems halted Soul Jah One as they were building to their climax and for six minutes -- which seemed like an hour -- there was no music.

Thankfully the difficulty was fixed and they continued in the same vein until 1.45 a.m.

By the time LP International came on there was only 15 minutes left but they were more than equal to the challenge.

A cut from the recently released movie "Mission Impossible'' was enough to let the crowd and their competition know they meant business.

But perhaps the definitive stamp of the tricks contained in their repertoire was the intermingling of a Beenie Man cut with a soca number.

Unfortunately, as the clash began to heat up -- with the trading of insults and tunes -- time ran out so the crowd never got to vote for a winner.

In the end Bermuda's International Dancehall Clash of Titans was never completed. The crowd was primed, the dub plates were at the ready and the insults were being traded.

However a chronic lack of time pre-empted the inevitable glory and bragging rights that either Soul Jah One or LP International sought to achieve.

And that was a shame really, since the Pontoons venue with the cool, skin- caressing ocean breeze, was an ideal location.

---- John Burchall