WITH a song that had the crowd in fits of laughter and jokes about a rastaman eating Church’s Chicken, former junior Calypso champion Kenroy “The Mighty Believer” Fraser, took his first adult calypso title on Friday night.

His memorable moment happened at the 2019 Banks Senior Calypso Monarch competition held at the National Park Tarmac.

The Believer, who dished out “Guyana must be a paradise”, had an overall score of 246.5 points to finish ahead of Young Bill Rogers, another well received act of the night. Young Rogers sang “No Third Term” and received an overall score of 243.
Former junior and senior Calypso champion, Diana Chapman, continued as a staple in the top four this year, finishing in third place with her rendition “The killing of another woman”. Overall, she scored 236.5 points.

With 231 points, Abigail Nelson took the fourth spot with her song “It’s About Time”, which addressed the need for updated copyright laws in the country.
A veteran to the game, Believer established that he came out this year with a point to prove and was happy he made his mark. According to his song, “people saying last Calypso they proper rob Believer”.

“I didn’t space last year. I don’t know what transpired but that would’ve motivated me a lot to come so hard this year,” the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Marine Engineer explained.
“I wasn’t surprised at all [by the win]. I always see myself as a champion and a winner because there are few persons I know in this country, who are alive and who could sing Calypso as good as me. For a man always knocking at the door, I know it was just a matter of time for it to open.”

Reigning as the Junior Calypso Monarch in 2005, Believer first took on the adult Calypso competition in 2008 and saved for not entering in 2013, has never missed a year since.
He first began spacing at the competition in 2010, when he finished in third place, and ever since then has been consistently spacing within the top four.

When his name was announced late Saturday night, he breathed a sigh of relief as his hard work finally paid off. His fans quickly jumped about as they celebrate, with a few evening dashing on stage to embrace the singer.

The fifth act of the night, Believer entered at a point when the crowd was yearning for something a little upbeat to remind them why they turned up, and from start to finish, he did what he always does.

He had the crowd in fits of laughter.
The well-dressed 34-year-old stepped out in a well-tailored white pants, a Guyana flag jacket over a white T-shirt, white gloves, and of course, crisp white shoes to match.
His kaiso “Guyana must be a paradise”, was a patriotic number, with Believer saying that he was “using this opportunity to showcase my country”.

The night had started out with Nelson performing her plea for copyright laws, which would ensure singers are compensated for their work, and ended with Dawn “Lady D” Edwards performing “Ask Them Judges”.

In all, the nigh saw a total of 11 performers taking to the stage, but it was Rudolph “Sweet Kendendo” Kendall, in the third spot of the night that really got the crowd animated. His song “Guyana Nice” was another paying homage to the country.

This year did not see as much politically-themed songs as would usually be the case, except for Young Bill Rogers’ “No Third Term”, which poked fun at former President Bharrat Jagdeo’s hopes of running for a third term, which he is constitutionally barred from doing.

Aside from those clamouring for copyright laws and lamenting the effects of domestic violence, the issue of racism was addressed by Cromwell “The mighty Voltage” Mentis in his song “Mixturize The Land”, which was also well received.

Dethroned 2018 champion, Onikha Joseph, gave a pleasing performance with her song “Side Chick”. While she did not place among the top, she definitely delivered on an earlier promise to please her fans.