IT was proven on Saturday night that Lindeners are true fans of kaiso as they came out from every nook and cranny to witness the semi-final of this year’s Senior Calypso Competition held at the famous Mackenzie Sports Club Ground. Though the event started late and there were some hiccups in the sound system, the crowd left the competition a little after 01:00hr on Sunday satisfied with the upbeat performances from the 15 contestants, coupled with several interludes of soca performances from the young singers of the Mingles Sound System.
The Master of Ceremony, Mondale Smith, gave the crowd a double treat with his comical performances, so it was as if it was a comedy show and a calypso competition in one. Meanwhile, there were several good performances of the night, which gave the judges a difficult time in arriving at the 10 finalists. But chief judge Winston Caesar and his team tallied up in about 20 minutes, while the anxious performers and a fraction of the crowd waited to hear the final decision. Dianna Chapman, Wendell ‘The Mighty Hunter’ Walcott, Basil ‘The Mighty’ Duke, Kenroy Fraser, Karen ‘Precious Pearl’ Bennette, Manoel ‘King Perai’ Ferreira, John ‘Ras’ Marcus, John Edwards, Roger ‘Young Bill Rogers’ Hinds and the reigning junior calypso monarch, Tshanna Cort, all marched into the final billed for this Saturday at the Thirst Park Ground.
As expected, many of the calypsos were laced with satirical lyrics which brazenly bashed opposition political figures and the PPP. Up for much social commentary was Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, who was crowned ‘King Liar’ for the night. Calypsos such as ‘Hot Political Speech’, ‘Too much ah wrong things’ and ‘Calling on the Father’ were some of the political songs which targeted the opposition.
While the David Granger Administration was praised throughout the night with performances from ‘The Mighty Believer’ with ‘Give David some time’, who pleaded with the citizenry to exercise patience with the President as he has to clean up 23 years of mess. Many were on their feet singing along to his lyrics, even as many others donned coalition colours costume. At one point, it began to look like a ‘green and yellow’ affair.
Taking a bold turn of modest criticism was Linden’s very own Dianna Chapman, who was one of the crowd’s favourites and whose stage performance and gesticulations had the crowd on its feet with her ‘Put ya house in order’ calypso. Dianna urged the Government to remember their supporters and the ordinary man who were with them through tough times and whose voices should now be heard, since it is their vote that will allow the coalition to retain power. “Put ya ears on the ground,”…remember it was your supporters who voted for you,” Dianna sang, while alluding to Region 10 former chairman Sharma Solomon and Vanessa Kissoon. This advice received a standing ovation from Lindeners.
‘Young Bill Rogers’ with his “A campaigning for President’ also spoke of the many hiccups of the government and while he said that the coalition has great potential, there are things he would do differently if he were to campaign for President. While the political songs seemed monotonous after a while, performances from ‘Ras Marcus,’ who sang his ‘How Mr Pope’ to the liking of the crowd citing biblical allegory was a good change. His raunchy lyrics on the Beacon Ministries’ leader sex scandal indeed had the crowd laughing uncontrollably, as well as ‘Precious Pearl’s’, ‘Old age like a criminal.’
After the intermission, the crowd’s momentum seemed to drop, but was re-awakened with ‘King Perai’s’ performance, though it was the last for the night. His ‘Perai Justice’ was performed so well, that the crowd requested his return to the stage. He sang about rape, pickpockets and music piracy and how he would initiate perai justice on the culprits. The finalists will compete against defending monarch Lester ‘De Professor’ Charles, on the 19th February at the Demerara Park.