— King Perai, Diana Chapman among top performers

KROSS Color recording artiste Onika Joseph dethroned Diana Chapman to become the 2018 Adult Calypso Monarch after delivering a thrilling performance at the National Park with her Kaiso – “Woman is Boss.”

Undoubtedly, Joseph – a school teacher by profession – was one of the crowd’s favourites from the start of the Mashramani Adult Calypso Competition – an event organised by the Ministry of the Presidency, Department of Social Cohesion, Culture, Youth and Sport, and Banks DIH. The announcement of her name by the host and popular radio entertainer Malcolm Ferreira drove the crowd “wild with excitement”, and Joseph did not disappoint the hundreds of calypso lovers when she took the stage in the final round of the competition last Friday.

Appearing under floodlights in a lily white outfit and a crown symbolising royalty, Joseph sang: “…Look around we see women rising, leading from the front ain’t masquerading…magistrates, doctors and lawyers. Simona, she in the government, she bing bang boom-out in Parliament. Woman is boss. Yes, yes. Woman is boss. Oh, oh. Woman is boss, woman is boss.”

Her calypso not only recognised the key roles played by women in society, but spoke out against the ills of domestic violence and called on women to stand up against this crime.
Chapman – the 2017 Adult Calypso Monarch, however, did not go down without a fight as she and Manoel Ferreira called “King Perai” were among the top performers that kept the calypso lovers at the edge of their seats, and in many cases bursting into laughter as they skilfully tackled a number of social and political issues.

King Perai, who is no stranger to the competition, having been crowned the 2015 Adult Calypso Monarch, not only won the hearts of the people, but also those of the judges with his rendition “Deh Frighten Green” – to place second in this year’s competition. Chapman – a one-time Junior Calypso Monarch and Senior Calypso Monarch – came in third with her rendition of “Something Coming,” while T’Shanna Cort followed in fourth position with her kaiso, “Secrets”.

The late start and light periodic showers did not dampen the spirits of the hundreds of kaiso lovers who had converged at the National Park for the Mashramani Adult Calypso Competition Final and the 11 contestants along with the host – Malcolm Ferreira called “The Rasta Diplomat”, ensured that it was an event to remember.

Decked out in a long white nightgown, Dawn Edwards, who goes by the stage name “Lady ‘D”, emerged from a net to sing “I have a Dream,” but not before part of Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a Dream” speech penetrated the sound system to set the tone for her kaiso as she opened the competition.

Alluding to a number of political issues that have faced Guyana in recent times, including the Presidential Third Term Ruling, the GECOM chairman list fiasco and the Parking Meter drama, Lady D said it is time for Guyana to shine.
“…Guyanese use to run, but from all over people will come. I have a dream. The stone that the builders reject will become the elect. I have a dream. I have a dream. I have a dream,” Lady D sang lustily.

Lady D was followed by Clifton Adolphus, commonly known as “Passion,” with his rendition, “Blaming Thing”.
Sporting a white and yellow suit, Passion lived up to his name as he passionately sang about the need for unity. “I blaming you, you blaming me, this is what going on in this sweet country…. We tired of the cuss down and bickering and we fed-up of the everyday blaming thing.

What we need is love and unity, equal rights and justice for everybody, everyone must live comfortable and live free, what we want is stable communities,” Passion sang, as the crowd cheered along. But though his catchy lyrics appeared to have been well received, Passion like Lady D did not muster enough points to make it into the top four.

Jovinsky Thorne, called “The Digital Assassin”, whose performance of his tune “Calypso” reigned supreme at this year’s junior competition, found stiff competition in the senior league. But indisputably, the Junior Calypso Monarch was a favourite for the calypso fans as he cleverly addressed the origin and significance of calypso, while employing the original tactics to send underlying messages.

“A man and a woman in conversation, so I decide to also listen, when you came first it was really tight, I can never forget that Old Year’s Night…. It really don’t fix like it did before, now you want me to deal with it once more, she said Stanley let me tell you flat, it is not my fault it get so slack, I was on a diet and I get relieve, so I bring back my dress for you tek it in,” the youngster sang, much to the excitement of the audience. For some fans, the Digital Assassin had delivered what they considered to be a true calypso piece.

King Perai, like Thorne, had the crowd craving for more as he sang “Dem Frighten Green.” Mimicking the marvel superhero character “The Green Hulk,” King Perai told a story about the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and the coalition government.
In his usual witty performance, King Perai roared as he sang “My friend Bharrat had a party and he invited me, I wanted to surprise him, so I got there early, $1000 was the gate fee, so I push my hand in meh pocket, tek out meh money, it was a brand new Granger, when the people see this they start to holler ‘Granger is danger, we don’t deal with five thousand dolla,’ they frighten green, they frighten Green. PPP/c they frighten green.”

“… I had to go to a vendor to change meh $5000, I paid and I went in, went over to see what’s cooking, I ordered curry and roti, somebody said sorry sir, no curry, yuh mean it done already, no sir it still greeny, greeny. We have pepperpot, cook up and metagee, but no curry to eat with your roti.”

King Perai was followed by Onika Joseph then Garfield Campbell with “Guyana Me Love, T’Shanna Cort with “Secrets”; Abigail James Nelson with her tune “No Ole Calypso”; Kenroy Fraser with the “Doctor of Doom; Roger Hinds with “Ah Grading Dem Bandits” and the last but certainly not the least, Diana Chapman.
Putting a new rhythm to calypso, Chapman ended the competition with a bang with her kaiso, “Something Coming”.

“Sometimes I use to cry how they use to treat we; when we visited our sista countries, put we on a bench and mek mock ah we, but now ah see something coming. Oil in we territory, creating job opportunities, building a better economy, all eyes now deh pun we, Venezuela extended de boundary, trying to stymie we prosperity, but we will overcome eventually.

Oh yes, that’s what ah see coming,” she sang as she delivered a very energetic performance.
When the results were announced, Joseph emerged as the winner with 246 points, King Perai 237.5 points, Chapman 236 points and Cort with 235.5 points.