BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – CHAIRMAN of the Soca monarch sub-committee, Dwayne Sturge, said that this year an artiste would have the opportunity to make it to the Beaumont Park Soca Monarch through public voting.
In an exclusive interview, Sturge said that the committee would be introducing a new initiative of ‘text promotion’ where the public will be given an opportunity to help an artiste who did not qualify for the finals to make the cut.
“There will be a text promotion with a one week window for the public to vote by texting for one individual in the finals whom they feel should be given a chance,” he said.
He said this will occur following the semi-finals which will be held on Dec. 2 and will be open to the public.
The committee has also introduced another text promotion but this time the texting is to be done on the night of the event when they can vote for their favorite performer.
Recently, it was announced that the soca monarch competition will add a “Groovy” category to the competition and persons will see two competitions in one night.
So now local artistes can now compete in the "Groovy" Monarch or "Power" Monarch both making one exciting night on Dec. 23 at Warner Park.
Sturge said registration has been going well, and that calypsonians are also signing up to compete. He said that there are also artistes signing up for both categories
“The difference between the Groovy and the Power categories is the number of beats per minute… Groovy soca has a maximum of 120 beats per minute while Power is above 120,” he said.
“Looking at last year, one would say Shakki’s song would have fallen in the Groovy category while Konris’ song would most likely be considered for the Power category,” the chairman said.
He said there has been an increase in registration from Nevisian participants also.
In terms of last year’s competition, the criteria stipulated that points would be gained for crowd participation. Thus Konris would have scored highly when his overwhelming fan base took over most of the night’s crowd and devotedly followed his directions and moved to the right and left accordingly.
Sturge said the criteria remain the same although there may be an advantage for artistes with large fan base.
“But there are only so many points you can get from crowd participation which doesn’t carry more than ten points,” he countered. “So it’s important that you understand the criteria and use it to your advantage.”
Maynard won the competition last year from a field of 12 competitors with his hit song “Unstoppable Force” which contributed to the high praises the Show received last year as one of the best events for Carnival.
The return of the Soca Monarch competition was also to show the National Carnival Committee’s commitment to further enhancing the development of the Soca Art Form in the local market.
“We’re also going to have a guest artiste, and I just want to encourage everyone to come out with their rags and flags to participate and support your favorite soca artiste,” Sturge said.
