Artistes show up late at soca semis

Prompt start 6 pm. At 7.20 pm no more contestants.  Backstage staff confounded. Frantic phone calls being made. No activity on stage. At 8.30 pm a contestant arrives. Then 8.45 pm programme resumes. That’s the scenario which played out at the semifinal round of the International Soca Monarch Competition at the Arima Velodrome on Sunday.

“This is the height of indiscipline by the contestants,” said a clearly frustrated Jack Alexis, official of Caribbean Prestige Foundation (CPF), organiser of the event. The contestants had drawn for appearance positions in both the Groovy and Power segments of the contest, so were expected to be at the venue on time to appear before the adjudication panel.

 

Explainer (Winston Henry), who was scheduled to sing The Girls Too Hot in position 11 behind fellow calypsonian Allrounder (Anthony Hendrickson) doing Garlic Sauce in position 10, became an early casualty of the confusion caused by the tardiness of competitors, by having to take the stage earlier than expected. “While it was a bit unsettling at first, I managed all right, and felt comfortable performing,” he said after coming off stage. “This whole thing, though, is very unprofessional.” During the long lull, the house DJ kept the rapidly growing crowd entertained with a slew of past soca songs, while the show hosts periodically engaged in some good-natured bantering.

 

By 10 pm the audience had grown considerably and the “big flag” wavers had taken their positions frontstage to support competitors who by that time included Benjai, Denise Belfon, Kerwin DuBois, and Blaxx. However, the circumstances surrounding the event played havoc with the playbill, making it difficult to determine for which category contestants were performing. Five hours into the programme (11 pm) we had not heard Destra, Shurwayne Winchester, Patrice Roberts and Machel Montano HD.

 

The scheduled order of appearance was to be:

 

Groovy: 

 1 Skinny Fabulous; 

 2 Destra Garcia; 

 3 Shurwayne Winchester;

 4 Lil Bitts; 

 5 Lima Calbio; 

 6 Blaxx; 

 7 Ziggy Ranking; 

 9 KI ;

10 All Rounder; 

11 Explainer; 

12 Kimba Sorzano;

13 Benjai; 

14 Mr Renzo; 

15 Machel Montano HD; 

16 K Rich; 

17 Jadel: 

18 Erphaan Alves: 

19 RKG; 

20 JW and Blaze; 

21 Shal Marshall; 

22 Chucky; 

23 Kerwin DuBois; 

24 Skhi; 

25 Nadia Batson; 

26 Terri Lyons; 

27 Super Jigga TC;

28 Patrice Roberts; 

29 Terry Seales 

 

 Power: 

 1 Blaxx; 

 2 Tony Prescott; 

 3 Denise Belfon; 

 4 Zan; 

 5 Nadia Batson; 

 6 Gary Cordner; 

 7 Patrice Roberts; 

 8 Megan Waldrond; 

 9 Shadow; 

10 Erphaan Alves; 

11 Tallpree; 

12 Swappi 4D; 

13 Third Base 

14 Pelf; 

15 Coyaba; 

16 Prestan; 

17 Iwer; 

18 Destra Garcia; 

19 Problem Child with Tallpree; 

20 JW and Blaze; 

21 Olatunji; 

22 C'Donia and Noey; 

23 Prophet Benjamin; 

24 Shurwayne Winchester; 

25 Michelle X and Kees; and 

26 Shal Marshall.