Shas­tri Boodan

Rom­mel “Pa­pa Mel” Leza­ma is the new Ch­agua­nas Se­nior Ca­lyp­so Monarch.

Leza­ma took home the crown and beat 9 fel­low con­tes­tants on Sat­ur­day at the big stage of the Ch­agua­nas Car­ni­val Com­mit­tee at Ram­saran Street. Leza­ma im­pressed the judges with his ren­di­tion of Re­al Talk to earn 263 points. The song was about the lev­el of crime and vi­o­lence plagu­ing T&T.

Leza­ma, a res­i­dent of En­ter­prise, was re­leased from prison in Oc­to­ber 2023 af­ter spend­ing al­most a decade in jail. He was a nine-time Youth Train­ing and Re­ha­bil­i­ta­tion Cen­tre (YTRC) Ca­lyp­so Monarch and reign­ing Pris­ons Ca­lyp­so Monarch . He be­came the first in­mate ever to qual­i­fy for a Na­tion­al Ca­lyp­so Monarch se­mi-fi­nal.

Plac­ing sec­ond was Ke­rien Fi­garo Williams with her ren­di­tion of, Through the Eyes, in third spot was Ham­mond Bruce with, Trinidad is Not a Re­al Place.