Artiste walks off stage in protest
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IT was a horrendous experience for three of this year’s Sugar Mas Soca Monarch contestants as they were unable to be heard during their final performances at the Sugar Mill Stadium on Friday (Dec 20).
It all started in the Groovy segment when the eventual winner from sister isle Nevis, Delly Ranks, was called to be the first artiste to perform his winning song ‘Love we Festival’.
After a brief presentation onstage, Delly Ranks went onstage and joined his dancers and started to speak, and up to that time he was clearly heard fluently. But as the artiste started to sing, the microphone acted up.
The artiste was also seen a number of times exchanging microphones with his backup singers but this did not solve the issues he faced onstage.
During his performance, Delly Ranks was joined by his uncle (King Meeko) but, like his nephew, he too was unable to be heard by the audience.
Many seated in the stands at the Warner Park Cricket Stadium and even those standing in the crowd were left clueless as to why they were unable to hear Delly Ranks, who repeatedly checked his microphone but continued performing.
However, it was after a few artistes had performed with no microphone issues, Delly Ranks was called back onstage and given a second shot to perform his smash single in which he gave an ‘explosive’ performance.
The nightmare did not end there, as another performer, Ritchie Buntin, being the second artiste of the night that could not have been heard onstage.
During the first 30 seconds of his performance, Ritchie Buntin was clearly heard just like most competitors, but then the defected microphone acted up yet again leaving him to perform without being audible.
Meanwhile, another artiste, Khyla, during her performance was also plagued by the faulty instrument. But this stunning artiste, in protest, walked off the stage shouting: “Fix the dam mic please.”
This action by the artiste was praised by many of her fans and patrons. However, after a brief pause she returned onstage with the assurance of a working microphone; but yet again she was unheard!
Khyla however remained onstage during her performance while being unheard and, like the previous artiste, she was not reappear onstage.
On the other hand, an official from the Carnival Committee explained to SKNVibes Entertainment that the problem occurred when a cordless microphone which was given to the artistes malfunctioned due to battery issues.
The official added that after the mishap, the judges ignored their previous performances and permitted for them to perform again.
The official also told this publication that the crowned Groovy Champion, Delly Ranks, was the only singer that took up the offer and went back onstage to perform while the others refused.
Asked what her views on the microphone mishap were, one patron said to SKNVibes Entertainment: “It is unfortunate that this had to happen, but before you put them on the stage you got to make sure everything is in working order. They looked bad onstage.”
