Soul songstress Teena Marie paused for breath maybe once ? for all of a second ? during her wildly energetic hour-long set on the final evening of Bermuda Music Festival.

?I?ve broken my bracelet,? she pouted, and it wasn?t hard to imagine why. From the moment she got on stage, Marie literally never stopped bouncing around, grooving frantically in a fabulous flared white suit and hitting the highest notes of the night.

The one-time Motown-signed star is known to many as ?the white woman with the black voice? and she didn?t disappoint on Saturday.

Most of her songs were brand new to me, for though she was billed as an international star she never really made it big in my home country, the UK.

Disappointingly, she didn?t play the one big disco hit of hers I was familiar with ? the funktastic Behind the Groove ? but the rest of her set was enjoyable, all the same.

Her best tune of the night was the up-tempo Square Biz, which had most of the audience gyrating in the aisles.

By that time she already had them eating out of her hand, having made a poignant reference to her former lover and fellow musician, the late Rick James, which got a huge round of applause. Marie was definitely the star of the festival finale. But the other acts of the night didn?t fail to deliver either.

Local group Pulse got a warm welcome, as did internationally-acclaimed Bermudian dub poet Ras Mykkal and reggae band Jahstice.

Mykkal was the most outspoken act of the night, rhyming on everything from breast cancer to gang violence on the Island.

But the politics didn?t get in the way of a powerful and well-received performance.

One of the best things about the Bermuda Music Festival is unarguably it?s setting.

The beautifully-lit floating stage at Dockyard and the balmy final-night weather gave this year?s event a truly enchanting air. Perhaps that?s why so many stars ? from talk show host Montel Williams to living legend Dionne Warwick ? came out to play on Saturday. But even better ? to me ? was the sheer eclecticism of the line-up and the audience?s enjoyment of it all.

Headliners Maze featuring Frankie Beverly were as far removed from Ras Mykkal as it?s probably possible to be, but their polished R&B ballads were just as much appreciated.

Their set ? while never truly taking off ? finished the four-night event on a warm and glowing note.

As a dramatic firework display rounded off the evening, happy festival-goers looked as though they agreed with Tourism Minister Ewart Brown?s declaration from the stage that this was ? officially ? the best Bermuda Music Festival ever.

Sam Strangeways