HAPPY NEW YEAR! Welcome to 2006! With a new year comes new hope, expectations and opportunity. DJ LT comes to you live and direct from Miami this week. What a place; hadn't been here in over a year! Anyone who hasn't been to Miami but likes to have fun has definitely got to go to Miami, and soon. I'm thinking that our tourism product could use to learn a few lessons from Miami. Miami is a happening place where there is plenty for people to do. Bermuda has to offer more things for our visitors to do, as this will ultimately improve each visitor's Bermuda experience.

More on this after the Top 20.

Holding at number one is I Think They Like Me by Dem Franchize Boyz featuring Jermaine Dupri, Da Brat and Bow Wow. Improving to number two is Here We Go by Trina featuring Kelly Rowland.

Up to number three is Don't Forget About Us by Mariah Carey. This hit has been hovering at the top of charts worldwide for the past month. Down to number four is There It Go (The Whistle Song) by Juelz Santana.

Falling to number five is Unbreakable by Alicia Keys. I love this song; the words tell the story of a love between two people that is unbreakable. However, I caution folks against comparing their relationships to those that exist in songs or on TV shows. Make-believe is all very nice but reality does indeed bite!

Slipping to number six is One wish, by RayJay. This ballad has had a good run but is now on the slide. Up to number seven is the kicking new joint from Mary J Blige entitled Be Without You. The one-time Queen of R&B delivers a knock out punch of a vocal performance on this rebound hit. The Queen is back! Long live the Queen!

Window Shopper by 50 Cent, tumbles to number eight. Slipping to number nine is I Should Have Cheated by Keyshia Cole. Improving to number10 is Grillz by Nelly featuring Paul Wall, Ali and Gip.

Sliding to number 11 is Run It by Chris Brown. Tumbling and fumbling to number 12 is I'm Sprung by T-Pain. Down to number 13 is Stay Fly by Three 6 Mafia featuring Young Buck and Eightball & MJF.

Falling to number 14 is Lighters Up by L'il Kim. Hopefully homegirl learns a lesson, keeps it real and gets out of jail soon. Down to number 15 is Soul Survivor by Young Jeezy featuring Akon. Climbing into the number 16 spot is the new hit from Kanye West featuring Adam Levine entitled Heard 'Em Say. Last week's essential new joint, Unpredictable by Jamie Foxx featuring Ludacris, advances to number 17. Jaimie Foxx is off the hook; the cat can really sing. He is truly multitalented; he can sing, act, play the piano like a virtuouso and he is a bona fide entertainer. He just might be a hotter commodity than Kanye West!

Sliding to number 18 is Girl Tonite by Twista featuring Trey Songz. On a dancehall tip, down to number 19 is Sean Paul with his latest hit entitled We Be Burnin'. I've heard this all over the place.

Rounding things out at number 20 is this week's essential new jam - Kryptonite (I'm on it) by the Purple Ribbon All Stars.

Now back to this week's word - giving our visitors more to do.

Bermuda still has a great tourism product, and a tourism industry with enormous potential. We just have to tweak a few things and we can get it right. I went down to Bootsie's Comedy Club the other night and had a blast. Has anyone heard James Richardson play the piano lately? This guy is off the hook! I've always been impressed by him but last Friday night the James Richardson Trio (which included Wensi Woolridge on bass and Kevin Maybury on drums) did two sets at Bootsie's Comedy Club. These brothers can flat out play, and they can play anything.

If you wish to speak about value for money; anyone who went to Boosie's Comedy Club that evening received value for money. There was no cover, just buy your drinks and you were entertained from 8 pm until 11 pm, by three of the best musicians Bermuda has to offer. The only thing missing was Randy Lambert on the lead guitar and you would have probably had the best band in Bermuda.

However, with James on piano lead, making the piano smoke, there was little room for a guitarist. Without any music, these guys provided the audience with a jam session that was to die for. They covered everything from Christmas classics done up in a jazzy style, to oldies (does anyone remember the Stylistics, Marvin Gaye, etc?), to ballads, to classical, to Latin/salsa, to Bob Marley, to modern day reggae/dancehall music. Then, as a special treat, James introduced a young up-and-coming Bermudian musician, Mr. Antonio James. Remember where you heard his name first.

Antonio is a young brother who is studying music at the Duke Ellington School in Washington, DC and will (Godwilling) be going to university to study music further in September. You have got to hear this young man play.

James stepped down and allowed Antonio to play two numbers with the band. It was refreshing to see and hear a 17-year-old play classics like Autumn Leaves and then a blues number like Blue Monk. He has enormous potential and should go far. We wish him well and hope to see and hear more from him when he comes back to Bermuda in the summer.

However, where were the tourists? I know its December/winter, but how do we get this information to our visitors?

We have entertainment in Bermuda, but we don't do a very good job of packaging it and telling visitors and locals about it.

Also, it is not consistent and not well organised. For instance, the James Richardson trio only played at Bootsie's Comedy Club for one night. I'm sure that if we had them playing regularly, we could package this, market it and have an entertainment offering that both visitors and local residents would appreciate.

The folks at Paradigm Entertainment are doing a good job of producing entertainment, working in conjunction with the Bermuda Department of Tourism, but we have to do more.

The sky is really the limit if we all open our minds and allow the creative talent in this country to do what they do best.

We must be willing to embrace new ideas and try new things, which may be different.

We must also not shut down ideas because they are not our own and might come from a source that is not in our clique/circle of friends.

We should pool all the creative people, young and old, in Bermuda and develop a think tank of ideas on ways by which we can improve Bermuda's entertainment offering.

I see us having a club where we cater to an older audience early in the evening but a younger, more hip crowd after 1 am. There's an idea for free.

Let's hope that in 2006 we can get some things moving and doing to offer more entertainment options, which will improve our visitors' Bermuda experience and by extension will also improve our tourism industry.

Peace ...