As the curtain came down on the 2010 activities the undeniable fact is that more women, as opposed to previous years, contested the Mashramani music competitions this time around. But while some made history and most were not entirely successful, there was one bit of controversy with a Calypso and a Soca singer over whom the writer of a song was. That song did not make the top three.
However, the women over all proved to be a force to be reckoned with in future competitions. On Friday, the successful women were all bestowed with their cash prizes and trophies amidst much praises from the co-ordinators.
At the point of possibly receiving a tongue lashing, some believe that the men might have had to settle for one mash music crown had Shelly G not disappointed with a no-show for the Carib Soca monarch competition.
None-the-less, through Tennicia DeFreitas, Melissa ‘Vanilla’ Roberts and ‘Sugar cake girl’ Fiona Singh, the women got the most top prizes proving that ‘Girl power’ ruled.
The women opened their star power batting in the junior calypso competition where DeFreitas’s rendition of an unborn baby’s fears of being born titled “I don’t want to be born.”
That song which is an instant favourite stirred the emotions of the judges and the audience to watering eyes. For that, she copped the Monarch without murmur from the audience. Her runners up were also women– Diana Chapman and Laquita Price.
A week later, the new comer to the competition proved her dominance by beating out the veterans in the National AIDS Programme Secretariat calypso competition, dethroning Roger Hinds aka Bill Rogers into second place.
Tennicia had won the 2006, 2007 and 2008 schools’ Children Calypso competitions before placing third last year with ‘texting’.
Tennicia is the lone artiste in competitions to have won two titles and she was also the youngest competitor this year.
Because of her performance, Mash co-ordinator Lennox Canterbury, on Friday, announced that the Mash committee is in talks to make the junior calypso competition monarch automatically qualified to compete in the senior competition of the same year.
Then came the National Chutney competition. While the men put in good performances, the lovable Sechitra Singh, called Fiona, of the El Sadiek and the Sugar Cake Girls band copped the 2010 crown.
She collected the winner’s trophy and the $500,000 first prize. She vows that she will be vigorously defending her crown next year as opposed to the former monarch Rajesh Dubraj who now resides in the USA.
Her tool was a raunchy “Besab a Suriyabay” which had no real meaning but helped the eventual Chutney queen to make it clear “Ah want a Wukkah-man to wuk meh everyday.”
The girl power continued with Melissa Vanilla Roberts and Beverly Williams who took things ‘high’ and offered a sure ‘back wine time’ to place second and third respectively in the Carib Soca Monarch competition.
Vanilla’s ‘high’ was also the first GT&T people’s choice award winner in the competitions history. She also is the first female to place second twice in the competition.
Vanilla, with sponsorship from Banks DIH, then proved her dominance by winning the Road March crown for a third time with her song that encouraged all to ‘wave yah colours high.’
Of her win of the People’s Choice award she said, “For me pleasing the fans is what’s most important and on the night of the Soca monarch when I was announced as the winner of the award, it proved to me that I did please the fans”.
She is issuing a warning that she has no plans to retire anytime soon and will be contesting the Soca monarch crown again while she will defend vigorously the Road March title.
The men proved their dominance in the Soca monarch and the Calypso monarch competitions through Orlando Johashen, called Bones Man, and Geoffrey ‘Mighty Rebel’ Phillips.’
This publication understands that next year the senior Calypso monarch will see even stiffer competition from women with the inclusion of Michelle ‘Big Red’ King taking a shot at the title.
By Mondale Smith