By Tony Nicholas
There was some booing and jeering following the announcement of the winner of the National Calypso Monarch in the wee hours of Sunday morning.
What appeared to be a very unpopular decision with many, also resulted in some fracas backstage among camps, warranting the intervention of the police.
The National Calypso Monarch Competition held at the Sab in Vigie on Saturday July 13, 2024, featured ten competitors. Among them were seven former monarchs and two first time finalists. Two female competitors were also in the mix.
The finalists were former Monarchs Dezral, Educator, Herb Black, Menel, TC Brown and Ti Caro, newcomers Gamtion and Mica as well as Solange. The defending Calypso monarch was Ti Blacks.
Many pundits had declared from the jump that the race was too close to call. However, Menel who was making a comeback this year had stirred the passions of Calypso fans with “Diary of a Woman.” Gamtion was also a dark horse in the race having created a stir with his two songs “White Lady” and “Clone Them,” while Herb Black had once again garnered the support of fans at the tents, from his first performance.
On the night, the competitors came on strong with moving stage presentations and delivery. The appearance of “Fish” during Dezral’s performance wowed the audience; Menel broke into tears during her performance, Gamtion represented well for the south, while Ti Blacks made a plea to society to focus on mental health issues.
In the end Dezral, the son of retired Calypsonian the Mighty Pep came out on top scoring a total of 785 points with his songs “De Big Guns” a tribute to Julien Alfred and “Looking for Fish” which paid tribute to cultural icon George “Fish” Alphonse. Dezral scored 49 points ahead of the first runner-up TC Brown who performed “Our Leaders” and “Iyanola” scoring 736 points.
In third place was Menel; 734 points and fourth Herb Black; 733 points.
The results were announced shortly after 2 am.
Among the disappointments expressed openly by fans following the announcement, was the disparity in the scores between the winner and the first runner-up and the non-placement of Gumption as well as Ti Blacks.
I would REALLY like to know how Herb Black and TC Brown ended up placing. Herb Black’s presentation for the second song made absolutely NO SENSE!
From reading this article, it appears as if there were heavy hitters from top to bottom, which means that all 10 did a great job. I am sure next year will be even more competitive. So the artists are upping their game. Congratulations to all. God Bless.
Just as ridiculous as the Queen show and Soca Monarch competitions, appears to be either predetermined or just clueless incompetent judges.
Haven’t u all realised that a Lodge is running this ountry, doing as they please and insist on “One of them ” win everything. I mean wth is FILIP? The guy has a worst 2nd song. So FILIP is promoting PJP and Herb Black is a die hard SLP. Ever wonder Y Kakal eh make it and Educator didn’t place? I suspect the judges were well chosen and ALL belong to the clan. The power soca results were also bIASED. Thank God I didn”t pay for my ticket
@Wow, at least someone realizes. Every strange decision made by authorities has already been decided in the shadows.
Herb black did not even place solange did excellent tf brown was booed yet got second this did not make sense the winner was well deserved
I have never commented on an article before and so I hope my post is published, as I’ve read many times in the past persons asking why their posts were not published. I was at the show and critic every performance. Human beings judge these shows and there are differences in how people interpret things but to think that Dezral won by this margin is ludicrous.
First of all Dezral gun song was a classical piece of composition but his performance on the night didn’t do justice to it. He was off key for the entire first verse and chorus and that made the performance flat. He could not have scored that high on rendition.
TC Brown is a performer extraordinaire, he could sing A for apple and his rendition will be superb, so I don’t have an issue with him placing. In fact I wouldn’t have been surprised if he was the monarch. Menel too was way up there. My surprise was Herb Black especially when it came to his presentation of his second song. I was lost and any good judge would have been.
All in all I will say that regardless of the strength of your compositions, the crown is won on your delivery of these compositions on the night. Too often judges come in with a preconceived notion as to who will be the winner and sometimes that cloud their judgement and the results are clearly bias. Remember each song carries the same number of points and so if the king had about the same score with his competitors after an unconvincing first round then it shows that the others were really pathetic in the second round for him to have outscored him opponents. Lastly I don’t know where the defending king placed but I think he should have been in the top four. Remember this is just my view as one who has judged many finals in the past.
I am not certain how the scores are tabulated with the soca and calypso competitions – however; for the Queen Show the decision in my opinion was fare, The young lady who won carried herself well, her talent was original and in addition she did an excellent job with the interviews. In my honest opinion, when it comes to interviewing skills most St. Lucian contestants do not do well.
To the article reposting – that is some really low level behavior on every level
“What appeared to be a very unpopular decision with many, also resulted in some fracas backstage among camps, warranting the intervention of the police.”
The results were just as outlandish, nonsensical and illogical for the Queen Pageant, what’s up with the judging of these carnival events?…The Calypso competition results were a mystery to say the least. Thats what happens when you choose friends and family over competent objective people to judge these competitions. Carnival committees and show organizers are losing all credibility .
Queen show was fair and square in all aspects.
@ Unknown – thank you for your honest post, as I also agree that the young lady who won Carnival Queen deserved to win. She was sincere in her interview responses to the both questions and she answered them very well. In addition, she carried herself very well in her gown and her talent was original.
Some folk believe if you are favored by the crowd – you should win automatically – not so.
Good job to all and to the judges. What a close battle.
Music poor ,events poor ,our crop over poor .judging poor
Former Judge,
I see you touched on one song of the king and failed to mention that the second was equally a masterpiece and the music would also have scored high. TC Brown and Dezral stood out musically and lyrically. There were some good topics and songs but many of them were never developed to their full potential. The treatment given to the songs of the 1 & 2 places were way above that of the rest of the field. And please review the performances again and tell me where the entire verse and chorus was sang off key. Standard of competition was high however as the results showed there were few songs which was given the exceptional treatment with composition and word craft.
Meanwhile, somewhere on this island someone is probably being stabbed or shot to death and you’re all getting your panties in a twist over some crappy singing competition
If you were a so called past judge… You would never say the nonsense u just said… @formercalypsojudge…..there was no way dezral sang off key the entire first verse… Ridiculous…. Let’s just say he did sing off key… This isn’t American Idol, take away they 4 silly points for singing on key…. He would have still won by 45 points…. Go back and watch all the shows from tent one to finals and you will see… Dezral has always been the top performer with the best clarity…. Both of his songs were crafted the best which is y he topped quarters, and semis and won the crown… You were probably one of the judges who the eliminate from the panel with lowest scores for calypso Jan’s, and the cuz you reasoning is ridiculous…. A wish for fish, and which you didn’t touch on as Jojo mentioned, won both rounds easily…. So for u to have the nerve to say you don’t see how he won by so many points is a biased statement…. Sure menel had two good songs, but let us not forget she too was hoarse, but off key, I shouting at certain points to get the sound out and also forgot her lyrics…. When she tried to get back on track, she was the band lost her…. They had to wait to catch up… Go back and take a listen… This was her unity song… Tblacks on the other hand over performed these songs… That he started becoming tired n out of breath…. These songs had no weight like the biggest gun and a wish for fish…. Two beautifully crafted songs with wonderful melodies…. Google the word rendition, then go and watch dezrals performance again and then u will understand…. Not because they hired u as a judge mean that u understood the criteria fully and also judges like everyone else still go based on their opinions…. Not matter what the criteria is…. Before u come n speak nonsense in public…. Check the facts. As a past judge you should know that lyrics carries the most points 40 points…. Then comes music and performace/artistic expression… Dezral topped by 32points total in semi finals, with zero presentation…. You are telling me, I with different judges and add props and all else u still do not know how he won by this landslide…. Man bye!
Excuse the errors from autocorrect… I also wanted to touch on the fact that south fans who were booing at results were literally looking for trouble with the winners camp…. This is unacceptable… Until the winners camp had to get the police involved…. Totally unacceptable… If you have an issue with the judging, you can take it up with the judges and not the calypsonian and their camp…. Smh
Next page, so u are telling me, once judgement doesn’t go ur way, it is lodge or obeah… Avaitay…. People need to understand that not because a song is popular means it will score high…. It is popular because u like it at tent, but but does it fit the criteria of what judges are supposed to judge on… No!!!! Take for I stand gamtion or whatever his name is…. Everyone likes his song at tent… Did these 2 songs score high points …. No! So now he didn’t place…. The people on the field in green were so irate, they started booing the winners…. So declasse….i get it that everyone has their people they came to support…. But not because yall screaming n shouting for the person mean their songs make sense… Baytese
The same judging criteria this year was used last year and the years before that to crown the winners at soca and calypso. So this year because your favourite didn’t win or place using the same criteria means it’s a cheat or something nefarious took place? So it’s good for you when you win but bad when you lose? (Make it make sense). There’s a reason why there are preliminary rounds. Its just so that artist can go back and reflect/make changes/make additions, basically see where they scored high and low and make the necessary adjustments. Calypso is a two song competition and majority of the time only 1 song is strong….however having 2 of your songs being consistent in the competition is always an advantage. This coupled with a good presentation and performance is key. Technical issues are not reflected in the judging scores (Mic feedback, stage lighting, sound system/mic levels). Moreover most persons watching the soca are oblivious to some of the rules like the 10min maximum time for each performer on stage and the number of persons you can have on the stage at anyone time. Points are deducted every minute you go over likewise the extra persons on stage that past the quota. There is a lot that the ordinary person looking on would not know, so instead of crying foul every year at the competitions because your artist didn’t place or win, encourage them to do a S.W.O.T analysis on their performances from each round of competition. There’s a reason why the greats and legends are called by that name. They take their time with their craft and always seek to improve their skills.Do it for the culture. If not, do it for your personal growth….. I would also welcome a People’s Choice award like he minister eluded to which is separate from the competition. Just like times gone when there was the Nation Building song or now, the most Exportable Song. At the end of the day the art-form is evolving and so too should the artists & contestants.
Moving forward
Next year
1. Please educate the public on the criteria
2. Please post the judges names and their score cards.
Hopefully this can bring awareness
Transparency and responsibility to the table and take the shadowy guesswork out of carnival in all events
Visiting from New Orleans for a month. Gamption was hands down the best performance and the only one I’d care to show friends back in New Orleans. No idea how the hell herb black or mica placed. The disparity in votes between the places shows it was clearly rigged. Booooooooo