Well, it's finally here, Carnival 2016. After an intense month of pre-festival events and activity, our annual national festival reaches fever pitch this weekend, with the staging of International Soca Monarch Final tonight at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port-of-Spain.
Tomorrow morning, it's the turn of the young ones to parade through the streets of Port-of-Spain, en route to the Queen's Park Savannah, for the annual Republic Bank Kiddies Carnival Parade of the Bands. Later, at 7 pm, Pan Trinbago Inc is expected to commence its finals of the National Panorama for Medium and Large conventional steel orchestras at the Savannah. On Sunday, Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organisation (Tuco) will host the National Calypso Monarch final, at the same venue.
Tonight's International Soca Monarch Final is a level playing field and almost every contestant is a possible winner, a possibility made even more likely with the absence of 2015 International Power Soca Monarch, Machel Montano.Montano will be at the Hasely Crawford Stadium though, as a guest artiste, along with 2016 Chutney Soca Monarch KI.
Twenty contestants from T&T and the region will face the judges and show time is 8 pm. The belle of the ball tonight is Toco soca diva Patrice Roberts, the lone female finalist.
With Massy Trinidad All Stars chomping at the bit to retain the National Panorama title tomorrow night with its Leon "Smooth" Edwards arrangement of Clive Telemaque's, Leave We Alone, steelbands like previous winners Renegades, Phase II Pan Groove, Silver Stars and Desperadoes are just as determined to prevent this. But the unknown factor in the competition is SuperNovas of Lopinot, a steel orchestra that has catapulted from the ranks of small band to that of large conventional orchestra.
Ably led by Amrit Samaroo, the band is playing Samaroo's arrangement of Breakthrough, jointly composed by Mark Loquan and Samaroo, and recorded by Roderick "Chuck" Gordon.Of the ten bands in tomorrow night's final, five are previous national champions and the other five are sounding just as capable of taking home the big prize as well.
As far as the national calypso monarch final is concerned, now the main component of the Carnival Sunday night Dimanche Gras production, the perennial concern of Tuco and the paying public has been the duration of the show. The show has just been too long and this challenge has stumped every producer of this signal Carnival event.
I recall more than 20 years ago, covering Dimanche Gras and, on my way to the office, then on Independence Square, to file my news story, having to navigate through blue devils and ole mas bands already on the streets of the city for J'Ouvert on Carnival Monday morning. That show had begun at 8 pm the previous night.
I have often wished that Tuco and the National Carnival Commission (NCC) would revert to the years 2007-2010 when finalists were required to sing one selection as opposed to the traditional two.
Actually, this stipulation isn't so traditional as in the earliest days of the Calypso King finals (1939-1957) participants sang only one song and the first time that the two song rule was applied was in 1958 when Striker won singing Don't Blame the PNM and Can't Find a Job to Suit Me.
Given the evolution and dynamics of the calypso art form, most finalists making it beyond the Skinner Park crucible have poorly composed, boring, trite and nonsensical songs as a second selection. It's only common sense that 11 finalists singing one song each would complete a programme much more expeditiously than 11 singing two calypsoes each.
It is my contention that Tuco should revert to having one calypso sung for the final. At Skinner Park it took almost four hours for 20 semi-finalists to perform, singing one song each.
With a one-hour preamble to the commencement of the final competition, with each of a dozen finalists singing one calypso, beginning at 8 pm, ought we to see a completion of the actual competition by 10.30 pm? Or, if Tuco is magnanimous and selects 19 finalists to challenge the defending monarch, might the actual competition end by midnight?
The gradual shrinkage of audience at the Dimanche Gras final has been perennially attributed to the programme being too long and boring. So, my suggestion is to reduce the pre-competition "froo froo" and frills, keep the production tightly stage-managed, and get everybody out of the Savannah by midnight.
Enjoy your Carnival to the max, stay within the law and be safe. I need you to be here after Las Lap, if only to read my next installment of Pulse next week Friday.
Calypso and pan forever
If you think that calypso and pan will be put to bed after Sunday night, think again. Pan Trinbago and a number of promoters are keeping the arts alive after Ash Wednesday by producing a number of exciting events.
On Ash Wednesday, "King" David Rudder shall reign when he performs with Pelham Goddard's Roots at Calypso Cool down Party, at Kaiso Blues Cafe, 85 Woodford Street, Newtown. Show time is 8 pm.
Simultaneously, the management of Woodbrook's De Nu Pub (The Mas Camp) will stage Ash Wednesday Royalty in Kaiso, at 8.30 pm This show features 2016 Young Kings Monarch Helon Francis, Chucky, Karene Asche, Gypsy, Skatie, Devon Seales, with music by Cummings & D'Wailers.
Before Ash Wednesday, both showplaces are hosting Carnival Sunday brunches with live entertainment. De Nu Pub will feature Sparrow, Nelson, Singing Francine, Brown Boy and Cummings & D'Wailers at its Carnival Sunday School, and Kaiso Blues Cafe will showcase Pelham Goddard & Roots.
Also, remember that former national footballer Gerry Brown will host the annual Carnival football reunion and lime in the Queen's Park Savannah, opposite Cadiz Road. Many past sporting greats will be there, including Everard "Gally" Cummings and Willie Rodriquez, as well as calypso icon Relator. The fun begins at noon.
International Soca Monarch Final–Order of appearance:
1. Cloud 5 (Grenada)
2. M1, aka Menace
3. Peter Ram (Barbados)
4. Hypasounds (Barbados)
5. Lyrikal
6. Sekon Sta
7. Preedy
8. Shurwayne Winchester
9. Patrice Roberts
10. Pternsky
11. Farmer Nappy
12. 5 Star Akil
13. Teddyson John (St Lucia)
14. Shal Marshall
15. Ricardo Drue
16. Third Bass
17. Rikki Jai
18. Blaxx
19. Voice
20. Olatunji
National Panorama Finals (Large)–Order of appearance:
1. NLCB Fonclaire
2. RBC Redemption Sound Setters
3. Phase II Pan Groove, in partnership with Hadco
4. Skiffle
5. SuperNovas
6. PCS Nitrogen Silver Stars
7. bpTT Renegades
8. CAL Invaders
9. Desperadoes
10. Massy Trinidad All Stars
Dimanche Gras–National Calypso Monarch:
1. Roderick Chuck Gordon
2. Gypsy
3. Skatie
4. Helon Francis
5. Lady Adanna
6. Mista Shak
7. Chalkdust
8. Devon Seale
9. Queen Victoria
10. Cro Cro
11. Karene Asche