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SOCA MONARCH 2013 RESULTS
so i did some reviews/thoughts on the two categories as they happened and you can read them here
Digicel Groovy SOCA Monarch and Play Whe POWER SOCA Monarch… and the winners are… William Munroe and Caribbean Prestige Foundation… again… yet another year…
DIGICEL GROOVY SOCA MONARCH
- Machel Montano - FOG
- Iwer George – Bubble
- Blaxx – Leh Go
- Ravi B – Prescription
PLAY WHE POWER SOCA MONARCH
- Machel Montano – FLOAT & Super Blue – Fantastic Friday (tie)
- Benjai
- Destra
Related articles
- SOCA MONARCH 2013 Finalists (bandwagonist.wordpress.com)
- Digicel International Groovy SOCA Monarch 2013 (bandwagonist.wordpress.com)
- Play Whe International POWER SOCA Monarch 2013 (bandwagonist.wordpress.com)
- Bunji and Fay-Ann discuss why they arent at Intl SOCA Monarch 2013 (bandwagonist.wordpress.com)
Digicel International Groovy SOCA Monarch 2013
My immediate thoughts as i watch the International SOCA Monarch on CNC3′s broadcast television… armchair revolutionary
Show starts at approximately 21:45
Drupatee Ramgoonai – Indian Gyal
i’ll readily admit that i dont like/approve of the song. i think it a waste. now onto the performance that is only 10 points. the backing trcks that included Machel’s voice were distracting. after singing a verse and chorus Drupatee seemed not too sure what to do. stage full of performers with umbrellas wukking up all over. Guessing it was Shiv Shakti dancers. One verse and chorus we have our final place.
Nadia Batson – Manager
she had some intro video that we tv viewers couldnt see…. geezanages look at pwefn… SHOUT SHOUT SHOUT… i was not impressed… Nadie better than that… and then she spoke to the crowd… remarks on twitter made that she looked like a Power Ranger… i added fraggle coz of the coloured hair… i think she needed someone to MANAGE-HER on that stage… Princess Melongene and SUPER Biagan… way sah allyuh Trinis have real picong…
Denise ‘Saucy Wow’ Belfon – Wining Queen
crowd chanting SAUCY SAUCY SAUCY… a next video intro… i dont know where these skits come from considering iz only 10 points for presentation.. apparently the KING was missing a WINING QUEEN… STick it stick it stick it stick it stick it… complaints on twitter about the theatrics… Saucy was wearing some kinda burlap coat with a hood that i couldnt understand how that was supposed to represent her being a ‘peasant’… she sing the song tho… as best as Saucy ever does… there was even a court jester on a unicycle… iz still only 10 points….
Ravi B – Prescription
A man climb scaffolding… like we never saw that before… anyone say SUPER… and then there is another SKIT… apparently he fall from the scaffolding coz he come out on a stretcher wid Nish B as his Night Nurse… starts off singing his song… like he read the requirements for a winning performance… nice break to hear the crowd singin the song… full points.. stage full of ancillary personnel Moko Jumbies included… then he starts to talk and give instructions… seriously RAVI looking like he could take the Monarch… HEH HAAA not with Machel still to come… he first of the four so far…
Benjai – Feter
SEE MEE YAH…. complete with bathrobe, shower cap, towel, bedroom slippers and cooler… buh hoss yuh eh singing yuh choon… man douse heself wid JOHNNIE oui… i am speechless… the onstage theatrics work… coz they simple and add to the song… what was that a double double shot… it was excessive… guess that’s what a true feter does… 10 points…
Farmer Nappy – Stranger
come to collect the performance fee and probably fifth place… with a prop bus on stage with the 3ZERO girls… dependable performance… he in this game long enough and utilised the topic of the song well enough… the instructions actually made sense… but iz still only 10 points… ultimate HYPE man
Destra Garcia – Call My Name
after what seemed an eternity of a break/lul in programming DESTRA comes on singin as if its American IDLE … nice simple performance other than that… dance girls with small Trinidad & Tobago National Flags… wait a phone call… the skit in the middle of the song instead… waste of time… i liked the spiked thingy she had on her hand tho… i dont know what that winged bit was about tho… MM planned to FLOAT so Destra decided she would FLY… inna 4G with Digi…
Patrice Roberts – A Little Wine
CNC3 cut late to the intro and missed a bit… was some kinda circus thing… maybe from the HD circus from years ago… Patrice was SHOUTING too… not as bad as Nadie tho… verse and chorus and speaks to the crowd for some more theatrics… the little wine concept was apt… overheard some comments about her black behind and why it isnt bleached… DED WID LAUGH… short and sweet performance
Machel Montano HD – FOG
CYAH PLAY MAS IF YUH FRAID POWDER… BOOM the sailors alone was 10 points… and with the FOG-UP attitude… the SHOUTING is MM trademark… crowd inna frenzy… he sing de choon and the voice like it gone wid all de POWDER… the (audio) feedback really bothered me tho… someone prob got a slap or something after… the TanTan esq costumes just put the performance over the top… still only 10 points…. THIS ONE GOIN AN FOG UP DE PLACE… HEH HAAAAAAA… its all about the HYPE
Neil Iwer George – Bubble
having to ‘invite’ people to sing yuh song… novel approach… the dude from bSquare… Prophet Benjamin with his ‘FEED’… yes I-wer come collect ah money… eat ah food at the people of TrinBago’s expense… bubble
Dexter ‘Blaxx’ Stewart – Leh Go
draped with some ropelights/leds and ‘native american indian’ garb the performance starts off in the dark and then the lights come on after a chorus… we get an introduction to his daughter who plays a choon on the steelpan… awww how sweet…. no brownie points tho… i give you points for the intro… BLAXX then makes the mistake we were dreading… talks to the audience… SING YUH Verse nah hoss…
i eh know who to call it for… took so long i dont know if to give Destra, MM or Ravi B… i feel Ravi had the best overall performance. enjoyed the second half of the show… after the fire… the BIG GUNS showed why they are so rated… buh i really considering Ravi…
this shall be updated with the results when they are announced… show finished 0015
Related articles
- Chutney Soca Monarch: Raymond Ramnarine Dethrones Kris “KI” Persad (repeatingislands.com)
- SOCA MONARCH 2013 Finalists (bandwagonist.wordpress.com)
- DESTRA Soaring To New Heights (bandwagonist.wordpress.com)
- Bunji and Fay-Ann discuss why they arent at Intl SOCA Monarch 2013 (bandwagonist.wordpress.com)
- Veteran “Pink Panther” takes T&T Calypso Monarch title (caribbean360.com)
Chutney SOCA Monarch 2010
brought to you by Southex Promotions…
it was last night…
in order of appearance…
Kenneth Salick – How Long
Ravi B – Ah Drinka
Omardath Maharaj – Millitary Bacchanal
Derrick Seales – Chutney Lover
Soca Elvis – Rum Doh Bother Me
Hunter – Puncheon
Andy Singh – Girl From India
Hitman – Spanna
Kris Persad – Catch Meh Lovah
Heeralal Rampartap – Reviver
Rikki Jai – Barman
Moses Charles – Indrani
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
and the results are in
1)RAVI B – 9575
2)RIKKI JAI – 4872
3)MOSES CHARLES – ????
4)KI PERSAD – 2060
5)OMADATH MAHARAJ – 1641
6)HUNTER – 1,489
SOCA MONARCH 2009 RESULTS
International SOCA Monarch Finals 2009
GROOVY
- FayAnn Lyons – Heavy T Bumper
- Shurwayne Winchester – Make It Yours feat. Maxi Priest
- BenJai – Drunk Again
- Zoelah – Keep Workin It
POWER
- FayAnn Lyons – Meet Super Blue
- Bunji Garlin – Clear d Road
- Iwer George – Ready
- Blaxx – Tusty
FayAnn also won the People’s Choice… now MARCH onto the ROAD…
Calypso Monarch 2009 Finalists
the finalists who go up against Sugar Aloes on Dimanche Gras Night… the audio is their Calypso Fiesta performances…
reserves
Chutney SOCA Monarch 2009
and the winners are… everyone… they were guaranteed at least TT$30K just for showing up on stage… and when judging is by text votes alone… well so said Southex… why bother to put on a full stage performance…
- Kenneth Salick
- Ravi B
- Hunter
- Asha Kamachee
- Rikki Jai
- Patch and Ma$taMind
- Neeshan “Hitman” Prabhoo
- Rajin Dhanraj
- Denyse Plummer
- Soca Elvis
here is a vid of the winner’s performance….
and the original
The passing of the Mighty DUKE
1930-2009
The four-time calypso Monarch Kelvin Pope, the Mighty Duke, died at the Ellerslie Park Private Hospital (formerly Stanley’s) at 1305hrs. Duke was born in St Vincent and came to Trinidad at a tender age and lived at Andel Road in Point Fortin, before moving to Cap-de-Ville Main Road.
The Duke had been ailing for some years with myelofibrosis, a disease which disables the body from producing new blood cells and is said to be incurable. A more detailed story can be found on Trinidad and Tobago News Blog.
the following is a bio on the Mighty Duke, 1930-2009 taken from ICE Records.
Kelvin Pope, the Mighty Duke, is the only person in the history of Trinidad and Tobago calypso to ever win the calypso monarch title four consecutive times. No one has ever seriously challenged his calypso records.
Duke wrote his first calypso in the 1950′s. From early in his career, he sang in “bacchanal” calypsos side by side with his serious messages. Duke, who was once a school teacher, says his social conscience was forged from his childhood days in the oil town of Point Fortin in southern Trinidad. Here, Trinidad conservative, country values collided with the foreign values of the expatriates who settled in this remote area to work in the oil industry. This was also a place where many “small” island people had migrated carrying their own cultural and religious values which were often shaped by their African heritage. Duke’s own family was originally from St. Vincent.
And so, Point Fortin, a deeply religious community known for its extraordinary number of entertainers, became the springboard for Duke’s career in calypso. Growing up there assured Duke of having all the humour all Trini’s are noted for, but gave him that haunting social conscience that could only come from witnessing the merging of foreign cultures. Point Fortin afforded a singer the opportunity of being an outsider looking in and an insider looking out. Duke stood on the cutting edge of the social strata in this community with a keen sense of observation which he translated into his songs.
In 1964, Duke left his Point Fortin home to come to the capital city of Port of Spain to sing professionally. In his career, which has spanned three decades, he became the epitome of conventional calypso. He kept humour and double entendre alive in calypso long after Spoiler and Cypher had died. He proved that well constructed suggestive lyrics that dealt with social issues could make the masses laugh, as well as catch the nod of the calypso judges in competition. No artist has matched his style and grace in making people take humourous calypsos seriously. While other calypsonians used exaggerated antics to capture the audience’s attention, Duke remained regal and dignified in his presentation.
Duke kept humour, the dying branch of the artform, alive and he gave humourous calypsos a dignity that few other calypsonians could match. While other calypsonian’s themes always dealt with sex, Duke’s often dealt with general social condition and position.
Duke has become one of a handful of calypsonians who is equally able to make calypso fans laugh and cry. He has created serious social messages including classics like “How Many More Must Die,” a haunting question address to the apartheid regime in South Africa.
Duke’s classic hits over the years include “Social Bacchanal,” “Black is Beautiful,” “Brotherhood of Man,” “Black Skin,” “White Mask,” and “Melvie and Yvonne.”
To this day, no calypso connoisseur can forget those four consecutive calypso crowns duke earned. The first was in 1968 when he emerged victorious with “What is Calypso” and “Social Bacchanal.” The following year, he turned back all challengers with “Black is Beautiful” and “One Foot Visina.” In 1970, when Trinidad and Tobago was immersed in black consciousness, Duke beat back his competitors with “Brotherhood of Man” and “See Through.” His fourth victory came in 1971 with “Mathematical Formula” and “Melvie and Yvonne.” It took the Might Sparrow to stop him in 1972 with “Drunk and Disorderly.” Even after his noble defeat in the calypso arena, Duke remained a force to be reckoned with on the calypso scene. He loyal fans return perennially to see him perform in the calypso tents and to sigh over his keen sense of fashion. In 1987, he proved his power in the Soca scene with the Roach March, “Thunder.”
Kelvin Pope is one of those few entertainers who has managed to stick loyally to the roots of the music while adapting to the nuances of the changing time. He has reminded everyone, through his vast collection of work, that in the lineage of royalty, which we all admire, there is something beyond the power and grace of a king and queen, prince and princess. There is a Duke.
thanks to TriniJungleJuice for the image.
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