Spice goes all out for Sumfest entrance

Whether she is being carried out on a bed or a replica of Black Panther's throne, Dancehall Queen Spice always goes to extreme lengths to make her Sumfest entrances as grand and as memorable as possible.

The entertainer's performance is one of the most highly-anticipated sets on the Sumfest line up this year. The entertainer told The STAR that her entrances are normally influenced by one of her hottest tracks during that time, or an event that attracts global attention.

"I remember one year I had a full set planned for Sumfest, and when Michael Jackson died, I changed it up entirely and even re-wrote songs as a tribute to him. I also remember coming out in a human size bubble, wearing 13-inch heels one year. That was one of my most difficult executions," she said, reminiscing on some of her most memorable Sumfest appearances.

"Most of my Sumfest performances are difficult to execute and the main thing I want fans to take away from my performances is my creativity and the effort I put into sets just to make sure they see a good show. The dancers and I rehearse for weeks. It really does take a lot, and the entire process usually starts five to six months before the show."

HER VISION

A perfectionist at heart, the dancehall deejay says she will go over costumes, props and choreography 1,000 times, and is not afraid to make last minute changes to make sure everything goes according to her vision.

"Last year we were contemplating shaving our heads bald to fit the Black Panther theme and I had to come up with a plan to use stockings to pull off the look. It wasn't easy to maintain or pull off, plus remaking the Black Panther chair was a challenge. I made over the chair three different times because builders couldn't get the shape right," she said.

"I allow my dancers to freelance and be themselves and give their input (on choreography), but according to them, I'm hard to please and never normally like nothing too easy. They will rehearse for weeks and I scrap the whole routine and say I don't like it so they like to wait on me and we do it together."

Spice takes her Sumfest performances so seriously that most of her appearance fee is used to cover the cost of her set.

Her executions seem to have gone seamlessly over the years, but Spice revealed that she has had a lot of difficulties pulling off some of her grand ideas.

"I think every I run into some difficulty back stage with my props, it's frustrating," she said. "I remember entering stage on a bike one year and when I was ready to hit stage we couldn't get the bike on the stage. It really does take a lot to pull off all the things I plan every year but my fans love it. Hopefully, one year, Joe will make the stage to specifically take my props so I can execute properly without difficulties."