Fantastic Friday fever

 

It’s finally arrived; Carnival 2014. This weekend is chock-full with finals for calypso, soca, pan and mas. 

 

Arguably the biggest and most elaborate event in the festival, the Digicel International Groovy Soca Monarch and Play Whe International Power Soca Monarch finals take place tonight at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port-of-Spain at 9 o’clock. 

 

Also on the billing are the Carib Breakout Artiste of the Year, between T&T’s Erphaan Alves and Grenada’s Mr Killa; and, the NLCB Tribute to the Classics, featuring Rupee of Barbados and T&T’s Scrunter.

 

All told, there are 23 artistes contesting the two categories of the Soca Monarch competition. In addition, the event will be attended by Hollywood red carpet hit-makers Boris Kodjoe, Nicole Ari Parker, Anthony Anderson, Tahiry Jose and Damien Dante Wayans. That’s not all, also stars in their own right will be guest artistes Soul Train Award winner Bunji Garlin, Fay-Ann Lyons and the Asylum Vikings Band, and Kes the Band.

 

Tonight is also Big Friday in the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain, at 7 pm. Hosted by the National Carnival Commission (NCC) and the National Carnival Bands Association (NCBA), it is the finals of the King and Queen of Carnival competitions. Twenty kings and queens have qualified to face the judges on a programme which also includes a number of guest artistes.

 

From 7 am tomorrow, the Republic Bank Children’s Parade of the Bands will be held, beginning at Adam Smith Square, Woodbrook and going to the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain. There is some controversy in this event over the change of route for the parade from the inner city to the western suburbs. Some bandleaders have stated that they will boycott the parade because of this change.

 

Tomorrow night sees the staging of the National Panorama finals for medium and large conventional steel orchestras. Among the large bands, the defending champion is Petrotrin Phase II Pan Groove and it is stoutly challenged by Neal & Massy Trinidad All Stars, Republic Bank Exodus, bpTT Renegades and Witco Desperadoes.

 

The 2014 National Calypso Monarch final has returned to Carnival Sunday, as an element of Dimanche Gras. A dozen calypsonians, each singing two songs, are all set to challenge defending monarch Pink Panther (Eric Taylor) for the million-dollar first prize. 

 

This competition is wide open and it is extremely difficult to chose a clear-cut winner, if only because neither judges or the public knows what second song the contestants will perform. 

 

People are saying that if Mr Shak has a second ditty that is as strong as Bois, the calypso he impressed Skinner Park with last Saturday, at the semifinals, he would be the new monarch. 

 

Four former national monarchs—Pink Panther, Cro Cro, Kurt Allen, Chalkdust—are in the final, as well as the 50th Anniversary of Independence Monarch (Chucky) and former Young Kings monarch Brian London.

 

Order of appearance 

Digicel International Groovy Soca finalists:

 

1. Ravi B Bread

 

2. Mr Famous Play More Local 

 

3. Erphaan Alves Contagious

 

4. Skinny Fabulous Behaving the Worst 

 

5. Denise “Saucy Wow” Belfon Chuku Chuku

 

6. Biggie Irie Need A Rhythm 

 

7. Destra Garcia First Time 

 

8. Tallpree Jab Nation 

 

9. Farmer Nappy Big People Party

 

10. Cassi Man In Yuh House 

 

11. Kerwin Du Bois Too Real 

 

12. Machel Montano Happiest Man Alive 

 

 

Play Whe International Power Soca Monarch finalists:

 

1. Ann-G We Love Carnival 

 

2. Snakey Dhoti Short

 

3. Nadia Batson Rated R

 

4. Patrice Roberts Feting Di Most 

 

5. SuperBlue Carnival YoYo 

 

6. Iwer George Mama Oye

 

7. Lyrikal Lockdown 

 

8. Devon Matthews Level It 

 

9. Destra Garcia Mash Up 

 

10. Mr Killa Rolly Polly 

 

11. Machel Montano Ministry of Road 

 

King & Queen of Carnival 

Kings

 

1. Quars Al Sahraa Desert Sting — Wade Madray — 423

 

2. Zanzikil, Lord of Chaos — Curtis Eustace

 

3. Monkey Know What Tree to Climb — Ted Eustace

 

4. Nagin Saphera — The Serpent Charmer — Ravi Lakhan 

 

5. De Tornado — Ronald Blaize

 

6. After Earth — Glenn Dave Lakhan

 

7. Madiba (The Heart of a Warrior) — Zinool Moahmmed

 

8. What Lies Beneath — Fareid Carvalho

 

9. Scorpion King — Earl Beckles

 

10. Poseidon Comin’ — Clyde Bascombe

 

Queens 

 

1. We Beat Pan Music — Gloria Dallsingh

 

2. High Noon on the Comanchero Sacred Grounds — Raevon Atherton

 

3. Indeera (Mother of India) — Denesha Jennings

 

4. Burrokeet Woman — Kay Mason

 

5. African Drum Dancer — Laura Rampersad

 

6. Warrior of Fire: Rise of the Mystic Phoenix — Alendra Bailey

 

7. Zamara, Mirage of the Oasis — Peola Marchan

 

8. The Unusual Beauty — Cherry-Ann Patrice Valere

 

9. Refraction: A Phenomenon of Light — Tamika George

 

10. Hera, Bonds of Unity — Tracell Frederick

 

National Panorama Finals

 

Medium Bands:

 

•Melodians

 

•Carib Dixieland

 

•NGC Steel

 

Xplosion

 

•Pan Elders

 

•Valley Harps

 

•Petrotrin

 

Katzenjammers

 

•NGC Couva

 

Joylanders

 

•Courts Sound Specialists of Laventille

 

•Arima Angel Harps

 

•NLCB Buccooneers

 

 

Large Bands

 

•CAL Invaders

 

•NLCB Fonclaire

 

•NGC La Brea

 

Nightingales

 

•Witco

 

Desperadoes

 

•T&TEC Tropical

 

Angel Harps

 

•Republic Bank

 

Exodus

 

•PCS Nitrogen

 

Silver Stars

 

•Skiffle

 

•Neal & Massy

 

Trinidad All Stars

 

•Petrotrin Phase

 

II Pan Groove

 

•bpTT Renegades

 

 

National Calypso Monarch

 

Pink Panther

 

Cro Cro

 

Queen Victoria

 

Mistah Shak

 

Bodyguard

 

Chucky

 

Incredible Myron B

 

Kurt Allen

 

Chalkdust

 

Skatie

 

Brian London

 

Alana Sinette