Carisa Lee
The cancellation of Carnival may have affected many people in many different ways, but it has also pushed some to come up with creative ways of keeping the greatest show on earth alive.
One such idea is the Carnival Champions League, which, according to producer Myron Bruce blends three worlds together, T&T’s culture, the Dancing With the Stars, X Factor model and the excitement of T-20 Cricket.
“For a few years now, we have been conceptualising new ways of presenting our entertainment product... Nobody has been really trying to bring some new ideas to the table, “Myron B said.
“Once this is done right in a year, two years, three years’ time we should be able to have a production that is of the equal standard of the X factor that the world enjoys,” he said.
But even as it takes the format of a competition, Bruce said it is not, but instead a way to bring together champions of carnival to showcase their talent in a competitive style.
“Our entertainment industry pretty mush leans toward the carnival competitions in the Carnival season, what we have is a situation where the biggest shows on our carnival entertainment calendar is actually competition that they present shows with,” he said.
At the launch at Digicel IMAX yesterday, Bruce said the main purpose of Carnival Champions League is to package T&T’s cultural product in such a way that it will be very easy to consume for international audiences and still remain true to who we are.
So how will all of this work?
Well according to Bruce, who is on team showtime along with Calypsonians Rohan Richards (Fireball) and Stacey Sobers, there will be two categories of performers.
Entertainers was the first selected category with three teams, the veterans (Crazy, Kv Charles and Johnny King), the Camejo Clan (Sergio, Sharissa and Stefan) and showtime.
He explained that there will also be a steelpan category with three teams led by Derron Ellies, Seon Vialva and Kareem Brown
“Each team will take on a challenge during the initial phase of the showcase, a random theme in sync with our cultural expression,” he said.
The teams would have to pick from approximately 15 categories.
“It will be exciting to see some of our veterans do a ragga soca,” he jokingly said.
The calypsonian revealed that the themes could be Calypso, Soca, Chutney, Vintage Calypso or Vintage Soca.
“This year we will he honoring two of our stalwarts we have a vintage night where each entertainer will have to perform a song by Blakey and the steel pan a lord Kitchener composition,” he said.
Bruce said all shows would be virtually aired on both Calypso Nite and IEnt Live Facebook Pages. The first show would be on January 26 and the final show on February 10.
the audience will decide who wins the 2021 edition of Carnival Champions League by voting during each show.
“Final night all of the teams will come together and put on a showcase of their work...The audience can vote and the points will be tallied,” he said.
Bruce said the Carnival Champions League presents a brand-new opportunity for corporate T&T to start back partnering with the entertainers especially since with the cancellation of carnival and the National Carnival Commission’s No virtual events for Carnival 2021 announcement.
“I must say thank you Imax for making the first bold step as a corporate entity to come out and support an artistic product the way they have accommodated us and we look to much more corporate involvement into this product,” he said.
Bruce said while it is not a contest everyone will be compensated evenly as it’s more of a bragging rights competition.
He said the Camejo Clan is the team to look out for.