KAY-MARIE FLETCH­ER

Se­nior Re­porter

kay-marie.fletch­er@guardian.co.tt

From crime and school vi­o­lence to re­li­gion and agri­cul­ture, no top­ic was off lim­its at the 2024 Na­tion­al Ju­nior Ca­lyp­so Monarch held at the Queen's Park Sa­van­nah, Port-of-Spain yes­ter­day.

The fi­nals saw 18 con­tes­tants from both pri­ma­ry and sec­ondary schools across the coun­try, from as young as sev­en years old, per­form­ing their best ca­lyp­so com­po­si­tions.

But had it not been for their ages be­ing an­nounced, the im­mense tal­ents dis­played on the big stage could have eas­i­ly been mis­tak­en for a Ca­lyp­so Monarch on Di­manche Gras night, not a ju­nior com­pe­ti­tion.

The Grand Stand was al­so elec­tri­fied as par­ents, teach­ers and stu­dents came out in their num­bers to sup­port their peers yes­ter­day.

And the con­tes­tants did not dis­ap­point ei­ther.

While every con­tes­tant walked away with a prize, To­ba­go al­most made a clean sweep as stu­dents from schools on the is­land took first and third place.

Tak­ing sec­ond place this year was 10-year-old Zachary Ran­some of Mon­trose Gov­ern­ment Pri­ma­ry School, who wowed the au­di­ence with his song ti­tled Save the Teacher.

Speak­ing to Guardian Me­dia fol­low­ing the com­pe­ti­tion, Ran­some said,"I am elat­ed and hap­py with the re­sults. Last year I got third. This is a num­ber se­quence, so I have to go with the flow and I am bring­ing it hard next year."

He was al­so re­cent­ly crowned the Pri­ma­ry Schools Ju­nior Monarch.

While this was not Ran­some's first rodeo, it was first-timer Nata­ki Thomp­son from Scar­bor­ough Sec­ondary School who crossed the seas to take the 2024 crown.

Asked how she felt to be the first con­tes­tant from To­ba­go in many years to win the ti­tle, Thomp­son said, "Hon­est­ly words can’t ex­plain how grate­ful, how thank­ful I am to ex­pe­ri­ence this be­cause a lot of peo­ple say that we made his­to­ry com­ing to Trinidad. Four of us came and I feel grate­ful to know that I won from To­ba­go... It was not easy at all. My mum­my would say come to prac­tice and I can’t say I’m tired. I can’t say any­thing. It was a lot of hard work. But she is my num­ber one sup­port­er".

The first-place win­ner got $30,000 and the school re­ceived $5000.

The prize for sec­ond place was $25,000 and third place $20,000.

First Cit­i­zens Bank spon­sored a to­tal of $250,000 to­wards the com­pe­ti­tion.

Re­sults

1st - Nata­ki Thomp­son - Scar­bor­ough Sec­ondary School - Your Pur­pose

2nd - Zachary Ran­some - Mon­trose Gov­ern­ment Pri­ma­ry School - Save the Teacher

3rd - Kaquice David­son - Bish­op’s High School, To­ba­go - Some­thing wrong

4th - A’Janae King Fras­er - Bish­op Anstey and Trin­i­ty Col­lege East (6th form) - One Step Away

5th - Janaya Clarke - San Fer­nan­do Girls’ An­gli­can Pri­ma­ry School - For Good and for God

6th - Xhai­di­en Dar­ius - Savonet­ta Pri­vate Pri­ma­ry School, San Fer­nan­do - De Cul­tur­al Mec­ca

7th - Da­ni­ah Mo­hammed - Sig­nal Hill Gov­ern­ment Pri­ma­ry School - I Plant­i­ng

8th - Jari­ah Nel­son - St James Sec­ondary School - Ad­dict­ed to God

9th - Cindy Ann Big­ford - Holy Faith Con­vent, Pe­nal - Not hear­ing the Bell

10th - Caleb Hinds - The Uni­ver­si­ty of the West In­dies - Is We Who Have to Save We

11th - Kyah Arnold - Scar­bor­ough Sec­ondary School - A Prayer for Peace and Love

12th - Josi­ah Jor­dan - Mor­vant Laven­tille Sec­ondary School - More Ca­lyp­so

13th - Tsiann Burke - Holy Faith Con­vent, Cou­va - Step­ping Back­ward

14th - Kurlise Ben­tham - The Uni­ver­si­ty of Trinidad and To­ba­go - A Sol­id Foun­da­tion

15th - Cay­la Allen - Holy Name Con­vent, Port of Spain - Lone­ly

16th - Kai An­tho­ny Salazar - St Bene­dict’s Col­lege, La Ro­main - Hear My Cry - A let­ter to Trini­bad