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SOME 60 soca artistes registered to be part of the first ever virtual soca monarch competition.
The competition was renamed The Monarch, and replaces International Soca Monarch (ISM), at least for this year. The ISM was open to competitors from around the world, but this year the competitors must be in TT in order to participate. The borders are still closed to non-nationals.
Regarding the prize, creative director of The Monarch Simon Baptiste said through sponsorship from organisations, including the National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB), the artistes are vying for $300,000 in cash and prizes.
The competition will be broadcast on February 12 (Carnival Friday) on TV6 from 8 pm. It will be a two-hour show that will be a mixture of live and pre-recorded aspects.
Artistes were given seven days to register beginning January 22. The top 10 artistes will be announced on Monday.
Some of the 60 entrants include Dexter “Blaxx” Stewart, Darryl “Farmer Nappy” Henry, Jerome “Rome” Priscilla, Ancel “Trinidad Ghost” Mc Lean and Akeem “Preedy” Chance.
The Monarch will break from tradition in that the previous year’s winners for power and groovy soca will not automatically advance to the finals. Those winners Iwer George and Jesse “College Boy Jesse” Stewart, respectively, could not be reached for comment on whether they will enter the competition.
[caption id="attachment_870064" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Darryl "Farmer Nappy" Henry in performance in 2018. Farmer Nappy says he taking part in The Monarch for the sake of the soca artform. -[/caption]
Priscilla said he entered without knowing the prize money because, for him, the competition is more than just the money, and is an opportunity to showcase the culture of TT to a wide audience. He said the virtual concert will put every artiste on a level playing field as they will have to do without crowd responses.
“Some competitors’ songs were so popular they did not have to do much for their performance for the finals. Now artistes have to perform with concert-type performances, which will be great. This way it will help artiste in raising their performances. We will see their vocal performances because when the artiste have a big song, by the time it reach Fantastic Friday, they hoarse. Now we could see who could sing and who can’t and who have stage presence.”
For Mc Lean, 2020 was the first time he made it to the finals and the experience helped him better his performances so he wants to continue learning.
“For me it is not about the money. My experience last year was great. It is in me to compete and after last year I said I going again. I doh care about corona, If the world was ending I was still entering.”
[caption id="attachment_870066" align="alignnone" width="783"] Jerome “Rome” Priscilla in performance at the 2020 Soca Monarch semi-finals at the Arima Velodrome. Rome says The Monarch virtual competition will level the playing field for all artistes since they have to perform without relying on crowd response. File photo -[/caption]
Mc Lean said he has a positive attitude when asked about his chances to win. He said he is not afraid of the “big artistes” that entered with their hits.
The Monarch, is one of three Carnival events that will be held virtually. The other two are Chutney Soca Monarch and Road March. The Chutney Soca semifinals were pre-recorded and broadcast in two shows this weekend. None of the virtual competitions’ winners will be recognised according to the National Carnival Commission (NCC).
Last Tuesday, Henry said while there is no recognition of the title holder, he wants to make history. He said the winner will always be remembered as having won during a pandemic, so even without the NCC recognising the title, it will be the envy of many to whoever gets it.
On why he entered before knowing the prize is, he said: “I know they are looking for sponsors and if sponsors hear certain artistes taking part they will want to give. I am doing this for the artform. We (artistes) can’t sit and do nothing.”
Henry found NCC’s decision to not acknowledge the winners as “real nonsense”.
“That is nonsense! Even if they (NCC) don’t recognise it, we are in a pandemic, this will be historic and who knows it might even be better than all others before.”
He added: “I find if it have no Carnival then they should close them down (NCC). Ent it have people getting laid off? Close it down and open back for Carnival 2022. The money they getting for no Carnival, take that same money and give it to the vendors who not making anything this year. This is the mecca of Carnival how you could not have virtual events?”
The NCC recently announced a virtual Dimanche Gras show will take place February 14 – Carnival Sunday.
 
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