SHORTLY before midnight on Saturday Roger Hinds with his song titled “She Roll’ took the national chutney crown from Haresh Singh.

Sixteen Guyanese artistes entered the 2013 Chutney finals at the National Cultural Centre with high hopes as they took the unique opportunity to capitalise on their singing successes in previous years.

Remaining in the top three, Fiona Singh, moving one step up from last year, copped the second spot with her song “Jam” and Haresh Singh; the defending monarch came in third with his rendition “Samantha.”
As they competed for the coveted National Chutney Monarch crown they were also vying for a chance to represent Guyana in Trinidad and Tobago at the International Chutney Soca Monarch competition on January 26. George Singh, producer of that competition was there to witness the Guyana finals.
Singing before a panel of volunteer judges, the first half of the competition got underway with Padmawatie Narine of Enmore leading off with her song “I am just a young girl wanting to get married”. Aamir Khan of Georgetown ended the first segment with his rendition of ‘Big Time Lover.’ The finalists were backed by the Shakti Strings Orchestra
The other finalists were Denis Tatpaul with “Mashramani Time”; Dennis Damar Singh with “Ban Karila Romal”; Harvey Gobin with “Dularie Gal”; Joyce Harris with “Mashramani Fever”; Rajesh Dubraj with “Come leh we sing and dance’; Suraj Narine with his song titled “Plenty Fire”; Pooran Seeraj with “Jheera”; Norman Seeram with his entry “Hay Mamee”; Paramdai Willie with “My Guyana Chutney”;  Joel Pharous with “No Curfew” and Steven Ramphal performing “All de ghals”.
The competition was solely sponsored by the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport, which for quite a number of years have had difficulty in getting sponsors on board. Nevertheless, the Ministry has maintained its commitment to funding the event as part of the Mashramani celebrations.
Ministerof Culture, Youth and Sport,  Dr. Frank Anthony commended persons who lend their support and dedication towards sustaining and preserving chutney in Guyana and who have helped the Ministry to boost the level and quality of the competition over the years.
He noted that the standard of the event keeps improving annually and based on the competitors’ performances during 2012, a number of them have already gained contracts to perform outside of Guyana.
In 2012, Guyana’s Soca Chutney King, Haresh Singh along with Terry Gajraj and Fiona Singh who placed second and third respectively participated in the Trinidad  & Tobago Soca Monarch competition where Gajraj placed sixth; Fiona Singh, seventh; and Haresh Singh tenth.
Their participation in that competition, which is an annual feature of the country’s Carnival celebration, was made possible through collaboration between the Ministry and the Trinidadians.
For 2013 however, only the winner of the competition will be sent to Trinidad and Tobago.  Commenting on this development, Dr Anthony said it has only made the local competition even fiercer and more competitive.
Convenor of the National Chutney Competition, Neaz Subhan said that it still is a good move. “The fact that we have our people who can compete with the Trinidadians is a good thing for this competition because they will learn and it only serves to improve what we already have,” he said.
Suhban spoke highly of the interest that the competition received this year from young talent, an important aspect to the longevity of the competition. “This year we have quite a few young artistes competing, and that is a good sign because it shows that there is interest,” he said.
“Things like that serve to, or indicate, not only interest, but the fact that a competition like this can be sustained. The fact that we have young people in the competition augurs well for its longevity, and we want to encourage more people to be a part of this,” he said.
The winner of the competition will receive $550,000 while the second place winner will receive $350,000 and the person in third position will get $200,000. The best newcomer will get $100,000.