Basseterre, St. Kitts – There is no doubt that the true spirit of National Carnival in St. Kitts & Nevis is calypso. It is the one carnival activity that sparks controversy, heated debates and the creation of hype and excitement about the yearly celebration.
Competition time is a much anticipated event, and this year, fans have another contest that will certainly generate even more excitement and colour. It is the inaugural MiyVue.com Calypso King ah de Tents Competition, which is slated to take place on Thursday 23rd December, at De House Nitery, in Soho, Basseterre.
“It’s going to be humorous, hilarious, comical and amusing,” that’s the description given by CEO for MiyVue.com Val Henry, who said that this new initiative is hoping to ‘grind’ more sweetness into the annual Sugar Mas because it will be a highlight of the funniest, most entertaining and exciting exponents of the calypso art-form.
According to Henry, the show which is scheduled for next week is aimed at promoting the art-form of calypso in St. Kitts & Nevis, especially the unique styles and creativity of our witty, funny and entertaining calypsonians.
“Calypsonians such as Unexpected, La La and Neglecter, just to name a few, have little opportunity during the carnival season to have a competition in which they can participate, given their style of music and topics, so King ah de Tents is designed to create that opportunity for these calypsonians to compete against each other,” he said.
“They have been the spirit of the calypso tents over the years, they have been the ones that people have gone to see at the tents, but after the eliminations have taken place and the semi-finalists announced, you don’t hear anything much about these calypsonians for the rest of the year,” the CEO added.
With regards to preparations for the competition, Henry revealed that they are accelerating.
“On Wednesday 15th December we will be having a media launch on ZIZ Radio & Television at 9:00am, where we will announce all the calypsonians that will be competing in the competition.” A total of 10 Finalists will be selected.
Following this media launch, the plan is to have the songs of the Finalists featured on all radio stations, to allow the public to become even more familiar with the tunes. This is important said Henry, because it is the public who will vote to determine the winners of the contest.
There will not be a panel of prescribed judges; the final winners will be determined by members of the public, voting online at MiyVue.com and a designated text messaging program, where fans would be able to text the name of their choice for winner, to 9696. The ultimate winners will therefore be determined via the People’s Popular Choice, guided by the criteria for the contest. Members of the public who are voting are encouraged to guide themselves by the established criteria and competition requirements. The songs must be humourous, hilarious, comical, amusing, funny or jokey, witty, enjoyable, pleasurable and not necessarily serious.
Though the public is allowed to use its own personal assessment and judgment to determine its choice for winner, they should consider the level of Crowd Response, Overall Impact of the performance, Effective Use of the Stage, Must be professionally dressed in accordance with their performance and must be punctual for their performance, to avoid being deducted points.
For those persons overseas, who are interested in viewing the show, the contest will be streamed live on www.miyvue.com and those in St. Kitts and Nevis can equally follow the proceedings live on ZIZ Radio & Television.
Voting will close on Saturday 25th December, at 4:00pm. This is to allow as many persons as possible, to cast their vote after the competition. The names of the winners will then be posted on MiyVue.com also on Saturday, at 8:00pm and released to the general media thereafter.
Each Finalist will be required to perform one song, which must be the same rendition that was used in the tents for qualification.
All calypsonians performing with the Legends Calypso Tent and the Grand Masters Calypso Tent, whose calypso conforms to the requirements, are eligible to participate.
The winner will be presented with a trophy and a cash prize of EC$2,000, Second Place winner will receive a trophy and EC$1,500 and Third Place winner will receive a trophy and EC$1,000.00. All other Finalists will receive Participation Trophies.
Presentation of trophies will be made on the night of the National Carnival Senior Monarch Competition, prior to the announcement of winners of that contest
