BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE people’s queen, Queen Anastasia, announced today (Nov.15) in an exclusive interview with SKNVibes that she would be participating in this year’s Carnival.
Queen Anastasia, whose real name is Tonicia Hodge-Martin, said she plans to enter the newly-revised Soca Competition, the Calypso Monarch and the Female Bacchanal Competitions.
“I plan to enter all the competitions,” a smiling Hodge-Martin said.
Hodge-Martin said her return to the calypso arena is from numerous requests from fans.
“I’m back just for my fans who have been begging and pleading that I return to the arena,” she
said.
She last performed in the 2008 competition and took a break in 2009.
“I felt there were a lot of issues within the local calypso committee that were not being addressed, and I felt that the art form was being stifled. Calypso is like a second heartbeat for me; I couldn’t be a part of its downfall, so I decided to stay away. I am now seeing some changes in the sub-committee and, hopefully, these changes would make a difference,” she said.
The 2005-2007 Female Calypso Bacchanal Queen and First Runner-up in the National Calypso Monarch Competition in 2006 said she did not abandon the arena.
“I would never abandon it. I would want to help it grow, but when certain elements stifle growth it makes it so difficult when there is no need for it.”
The calypsonian said she released her album ‘My Thoughts’ one week before the 2010 St. Kitts Music Festival and received great feedback.
The album features nine tracks including her past hit ‘Lithmus Test’ and ‘Wish List’ and also the reggae tune ‘Peace and Love’.
“Peace and Love’ as well as ‘Murderer’, another track on the album, received great feedback and I received comments from radio DJs in Bahamas, who said that the songs spoke to what they were facing there.
“Man at Home’ is another track which a lot of the women like as well,” she said.
Although her calypsos for the competition have not yet been released because she is still working on them, Hodge-Martin promised that this weekend fans would get a taste of what she is coming with when she performs with the Legend Tent.
She will be performing a song called ‘St. Kitts’ at the Soca Monarch Competition.
“The opening of the song says, ‘Everyday it seems to get real hard and we keep holding on, you are the place where we were born and we will never let you go. So, even though things get hard we are faithful to our island, we’re not running away.’”
Hodge-Martin said her fans could expect the same high energy and more from the past on her return to the stage.
“They can expect the best,” she added.
She will also be producing a music video for her Soca song ‘St. Kitts’, which will feature scenes from the Red Devils J’Ouvert Troupe that she endorses.
