Nadia Batson is celebrating a lot these days. Her inclusion into the semi finals of both the Groovy and Power Soca Monarch competitions are reason enough to smile even brighter. Queen SASS, as her loyal fans have knighted her, has been hard at work and many would agree that her semi final accomplishment was more or less expected. Batson, however, remains in work mode, not allowing herself to become comfortable amid the hype. In an interview with the T&T Guardian, she said she is going all out this year since she knows the power of her two chosen tracks for the competition. "I'm going with No Pressure for the Groovy," she announced explaining that the response to the song at Fire Fete had been overwhelming. "My plan is to get into the finals of both competitions and since I've been doing this for so long, I understand how to treat with a semi-final competition," she said.
Batson has been in the finals of the Soca Monarch competition since 2006. She now considers herself a staple to the event. Her closest year to victory was in 2007, when she placed second for her rendition of My Land alongside former band mate, Kees Dieffenthaller. Nadia Batson has been a part of the soca fraternity for a very long time. She shot to fame in 2006 with her single One Island. Since that time, the woman, who many reveres as a prolific songwriter, has maintained a very competitive stance in the soca arena, having continuously contributed big soca anthems to the delight of Carnival lovers. At the end of 2011, Nadia launched her all-female soca band, calling it SASS. It really was the first of its kind, and Batson and her female team have since proven their value, lighting up the stage at their first 'big fete', Fire Fete, on January 14. Now, with Soca Monarch set for February 17, the woman who has belted out hits like Shiver, No Pressure, Whey Yuh Want alongside Lyrikal, Hard Pong with Dil-E-Nadan's Raymond Ramnarine and her power soca hit, Making Up, is gearing up for the big show like she's never geared up before. She will bring her SASS to the stage at the Arima Velodrome and she plans on leaving with much more. In fact, Batson is very confident in her ability to capture the crowd at Arima so with that confidence in tact, fans can certainly expect a huge performance, the likes of which she assures they'll remember for weeks after. (Compiled Aba A Luke)
