It has been 50 years since Dr Leroy Calliste, aka Black Stalin, has been singing in the calypso tents, and 52 years since he began his singing career.On April 6, the veteran calypsonian was the featured singer at De Nu Pub in Woodbrook.Black Stalin believes that although he has accomplished great things in his career, including six calypso monarch titles, he still wants to achieve more. He has already been given an honorary doctorate by the University of the West Indies in 2008."Music is music and the traditional art form will never die," was his response whether or not he had a problem with the different versions of calypso music.The entertainment started on the night with light jokes from MC Dennis "Sprangalang" Hall.
Sprangalang warned those in attendance that there would be a definite imbalance of calypso for the night, and advised anyone who found the imbalance to be problematic to take their concerns to the President.Brown Boy continued the political picong with a humorous song entitled Manning Post. This song may have been prophetic in nature, as it was written prior to the Peoples Partnership's landslide victory at the polls last year. His other renditions included Toy of the Year and Planter.Ninja followed with three selections, before Explainer took to the stage with the ever popular Lorraine.He also gave tribute to Brother Valentino by singing, Life is Stage, a song he said he believed should have made it to the finals when Bro Valentino first sang it.The second half was all about Black Stalin, as he came firing from the word go. He sang Bun Them, Black Man Feeling To Party, Sufferers, Dorothy and many more.