–whopping G$1M up for grabs

THE annual King’s Jewellery World Duck Curry Competition has, over the years, become one of the most anticipated events in local entertainment circles; and this year’s 13th staging of the competition is set to take on an added flavour, on November 17 at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence, when the promoters bring Caribbean chutney sensations Terry Gajraj and the five-time international chutney monarch, Rikki Jai to perform at the event.
Performing alongside these mega-stars would be Guyana’s chutney queen, Fiona Singh, and a popular dance group out of Trinidad and Tobago.
Things will be further hyped this year with the presence of five Trinidadian groups, and three groups from Suriname are also expected to compete.
Some twenty-five groups are expected to indulge in the duck curry fantasia for a whopping first prize of G$1 million.

Let’s talk about Rikki Jai

Rikki Jai is a Trinidadian chutney-soca artiste born as Samraj Jaimungal in Friendship Village, San Fernando.
Jai’s 1988 debut single, Sumintra, told the tale of an Indo-Trinidadian woman from Debe who informed her boyfriend of her preference for soca over the music of Indian artist Lata Mangeshkar.
Jai returned the following year with ‘Pumping’, then ‘Bolo’, and ‘Show Me Yuh Motion’. His 1993 song ‘Wine on a Bumsee’ signalled Jai’s exit from the soca world into the chutney/soca arena, in which he continues to perform.
Jai released ‘Chutney Vibrations’, a compilation with soca chutney rhythms and his re-reading of the Juma. His most commercially successful release is ‘Mor Tor’, featuring fellow Trini soca star Machel Montano. In 2007, he released songs such as ‘Aj Bhi Jeen’ and ‘Bodekidal’, followed by ‘Barman’.
Jai has won the chutney/soca monarchy a record-breaking six times. In 2011, he won his 6th title with the song ‘White Oak and Water’.
In 2001 he tied for first place (with Bunji Garlin) for the ‘Young King’ title, and placed second in the 2010 Chutney Soca Monarch. He was crowned champion at the 2011 Chutney Soca Monarch, and walked away with $2 million in prize money.