THE rain fell, the competition was called off, the rain stopped and people came in massive numbers.  That was the story as the 2013 Carib Soca Monarch competition continued on Saturday last in Berbice.

Eighteen persons will now contest the finals of the competition after the organizers made a premature decision to call the competition off after persistent rain.
Shortly after the premature decision, the clouds cleared and the stars came out; so did the people of Berbice who flocked the damped venue to be entertained by Guyana’s leading soca artistes.
Initially, five of the 17 semi-finalists were to be sent home while the others were supposed to join defending Champion ‘Jomo’ in the finals on February 17 at the National Park.
However,  the night was mixed with some lackluster performances while some artistes brought their ‘A’ game to the stage even though it wasn’t being judged.
Much was expected from the man from Linden, popularly known as ‘Chiney’, but Anthony Abrams’ performance was nothing to cheer about.
In Linden, along with Adrian Dutchin, ‘Chiney’ totaled the most points and had the biggest crowd response. His stage performance was on par with what made him popular but in Berbice, he basically ‘posed’ through his time on stage.
Dutchin who has the most popular song, Jook,  in the competition this year, made his way to the stage amidst  thunderous applause after being introduced by MC Chow Pow.
But Dutchin just ‘Jook’ his way through his time   as if he didn’t care to be on stage in the first place.
Vanilla and ‘B-52’ certainly ‘Tear de Roof’ off in Berbice and evoked the biggest crowd response from the very cold crowd. Many criticized their Linden quarter-finals performance, saying that they were out of sync, but the duo from the Kross Colour Records camp turned it up and showed that they are certainly a force to be reckoned with.
Dwayne Semple, aka King Shepherd, had by far the most popular song in 2012 with ‘Wuk up pon it’ and  he says that it’s ‘More wuk up’ in 2013. The song isn’t as popular but Berbicians showed him love during his rendition of his entry.
Kwesi ‘Ace’ Edmondson’s  song ‘Same thing’ – a crafty tune which talks about artistes singing the same thing every year for Soca Monarch – got a decent reaction from the crowd, so too did Roger ‘Roger B’ Bowen who was ‘Looking fuh bumpa’.
The event turned into a massive party as fans took to the wet outfield to get a better glimpse of the performers because the stage was too far out from the pavilion.
After two showings of what Guyana has to offer in the genre of soca, the outcome of the finals on February 17 will be hard to predict.
Photo Caption: Chronicle photographer Sonell Nelson was on hand to capture Vanilla and B-52’s performance during the semi-finals of the Carib Soca Monarch competition in Berbice on Saturday last.