SHAL­IZA HAS­SANALI

Se­nior In­ves­tiga­tive Re­porter

shal­iza.has­sanali@guardian.co.tt

Ca­lyp­son­ian Karene As­che is promis­ing to come out with her guns blaz­ing to top­ple so­ca star Machel Mon­tano in tonight’s Ca­lyp­so Monarch fi­nals.

“It’s all about beat­ing Machel Mon­tano, not his song. It’s not the song I am go­ing to com­pete against, it’s the per­son,” she told the Sun­day Guardian.

As­che, who placed fourth in the semi­fi­nals of the Ca­lyp­so Monarch com­pe­ti­tion at Skin­ner Park in San Fer­nan­do, last week­end, is among the 12 fi­nal­ists to take part in tonight’s com­pe­ti­tion with her pow­er­ful ren­di­tion No Ex­cuse, which sends a mes­sage to the crim­i­nal el­e­ments that pover­ty is no ex­cuse to com­mit crimes. The song was com­posed by Christophe Grant, who has been laud­ed in ca­lyp­so cir­cles as the man with the gold­en pen.

Apart from Mon­tano, some of the top guns who will bat­tle As­che for the cov­et­ed crown are  Kurt Allen, Helon Fran­cis and Mi­cal Te­ja.

“I am very con­fi­dent, to be hon­est,” As­che said, af­ter draw­ing po­si­tion num­ber ten on Thurs­day for the fi­nal round of the com­pe­ti­tion.

This is the first time Mon­tano, a ten-time Road March cham­pi­on will com­pete for the Ca­lyp­so Monarch ti­tle which of­fers the first prize of $500,000 and a Grand Vi­tara car val­ued at $300,000.

The score­sheet showed that Mon­tano amassed 278 points to top the semi­fi­nal of the com­pe­ti­tion with his song Soul of Ca­lyp­so. As­che placed fourth scor­ing 264 points be­hind Helon Fran­cis and Kurt Allen who net­ted 272 and 267 scores re­spec­tive­ly.

Mon­tano will sing in the third po­si­tion.

He has al­ready been tipped by vet­er­an ca­lyp­son­ian Dr Hol­lis “Chalk­dust” Liv­er­pool to be a ti­tle con­tender.

How­ev­er, As­che, who is singing in the tenth po­si­tion, is no stranger to Ca­lyp­so Monarch suc­cess. In 2011, she won the Ca­lyp­so Monarch ti­tle which earned her the first prize of $2 mil­lion–the largest to be paid in the his­to­ry of the com­pe­ti­tion.

In pre­vi­ous semi­fi­nals, As­che said, she placed ninth, so this would not de­ter her.

“The na­tion likes the fact that he (Mon­tano) is there. I don’t think each and every­body would want him to win. I be­lieve in my song and I be­lieve in my pas­sion. And to make it even bet­ter, I think his song is nice, but it’s not a win­ning song and that is my take on it.”

On Tues­day, As­che told the Sun­day Guardian she had the sup­port of the na­tion.

“Peo­ple want me to win,” she said.

Promis­ing to go all out, As­che said: “It’s the queen ver­sus the king. I can­not wait on Sun­day (to­day) be­cause it will be a show­down.”

Al­though Mon­tano has carved a name for him­self in the in­dus­try, As­che said he will be en­ter­ing new ter­ri­to­ry.

“Machel Mon­tano has not been a ca­lyp­so monarch yet. Yes, he is very ex­pe­ri­enced with the stage and the crowd and all of that. I am very con­fi­dent be­cause the song that I am singing is me.”

She said peo­ple, in­clud­ing her fel­low ca­lyp­so­ni­ans, have been sup­port­ing her all the way.

“I think I have the sup­port of the na­tion, to be hon­est, and peo­ple want me to win, and I am hap­py for that be­cause I love com­pe­ti­tion.”

As­che said If she had sung Mon­tano’s ca­lyp­so in the semi­fi­nals she would not have made it to the Di­manche Gras. She said the song has a beat­en melody. “Machel get in be­cause of his name.”

Or­der of ap­pear­ance

1. Aaron Dun­can-Char­ac­ter

2. Ta’zyah O’Con­nor-Fo­cus

3. Machel Mon­tano-Soul of Ca­lyp­so

4. Helon Fran­cis-Rep­re­sent­ing we.

5. Kurt Allen-De First In­ves­ti­ga­tion

6-Dil­lion Thomas-It Wasn’t Me

7. Rod­er­ick Gor­don-Charlsie

8. Win­ston Gyp­sy Pe­ters-Un­grate­ful

9. Bri­an Lon­don-Hell

10. Karene As­che-No Ex­cuse

11. Mi­cal Te­ja-DNA

12. Stacey Sobers-Re­spect the Tribe