As an avid reader of your newspaper, I felt obliged to write in and comment on such a historic moment when Machel Montano graced the Soca Monarch stage last Friday. For years I have been a keen follower of this Carnival event but never have I seen so many people gathered in one place in our island. Only one conclusion came to mind-"the king is back." Prior to the Soca Monarch competition-and even more so after-some of the artistes and a few citizens have been suggesting that politics may have had a role to play in Machel winning this competition because he presented a CD to the Prime Minister and also with the AG giving the thumbs up for Machel. I think many of them were just upset that they didn't think of it first, but Machel's CD clearly was an indication that he was thankful and appreciative of the Government giving back to the people something that we always treasured and love-and that is crossing the big Savannah stage. As simple as that may sound, to the many people who play mas it was truly one of the highlights of Carnival, if not the most talked about.
I myself, as a well brought up young woman, know that when someone gives you something that you love, the best gift is to say "thank you" and that is exactly what Machel did. He said "thank you" to the one responsible for this. What may have taken place after is not his doing. I know many have disagreed with Machel placing first in the Soca Monarch competition but was there really a competition to begin with?
Don't get me wrong, I am not a big Machel fan but to me, an average viewer, it seem quite inevitable that he would take the crown. Now many people fail to realise that the Soca Monarch competition is not the people's choice awards. It is based on lyrics, presentation, text voting etc. If you compare Machel to Iwer George on that said night you could clearly see who would come out the winner. On one hand you have Machel singing about the love for the Savannah stage and what it means to the people to have the stage once again for Carnival, giving thanks to the people responsible for making this happen. His presentation was done by the ultimate masman himself Peter Minshall. His entrance was from the rooftop, he had girls flying off the stage over the crowd. Need I say more?
On the other hand, you had Iwer's lyrics. Iwer was not singing about the love of Carnival or any love as a matter of fact but instead he is so displeased that he wants to leave and go Grenada and eat jab jab fowl (whatever that is). He came in on a paper airplane to my amusement. Now based on this, tell me who should have won this competition? Is it Iwer because he had a crowd of people who paid $250 general admission running like a herd of cattle to and from him, or someone like Machel who clearly has love for his country and its people? People, just face it, the king is back and because of this it was one of the most enjoyable Carnivals ever
Tricia Grant
Mt Hope