BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – TONIGHT (Dec. 23) will be one of the most exciting and entertaining nights for Sugar Mas 2011-2012 with the staging of the Beaumont Park Soca Monarch Competition.
The Soca Monarch Competition, which was reintroduced last year as one of the events for the National Carnival celebration, will this time around feature two categories - Groovy and Power.
The competition will be held in honour of Soca Monarch Chairman Dwayne Sturge, who passed away in the wee hours of Sunday, December 4, 2011.
Some of the artistes who have made it to the finals will be competing in both segments.
So, will patrons see the crowning of a king or queen taking both segments? Or will they see the crowning of two winners tonight?
The Groovy segment, which is of a slower tempo compared to the Power, will feature nine competitors who will appear in the following order: Konris, Ali Dee, Cinnamon, Queen Anastasia, Nickhail, X-Man, Stitch In Time (Masud Sadiki) and Shakki Starfire.
So, who will take the crown?
Some of those performers who were most talked about after the Semi-Finals are Ali Dee, Konris and Stitch in Time.
Ali Dee has talent, a great voice and her song ‘With or Without You’ is a favorite. However, this newcomer to competitions should be aware that her stage performance has got to be exceptional to match that of veteran performers Stitch In Time and Konris.
Stitch In Time is the nation’s top reggae performer who last year decided to dabble in the ‘socalypso’ arena.
He has displayed excellent use of the stage in the past and is not too shy to get down and reach out to the crowd to make them ‘swing and sway’, which is a part of the criteria.
However, his downfall may be that his song did not receive much airplay and too little of it may not be a favorite among music lovers.
Konris, on the other hand, is receiving much airplay with ‘Party Long’, which is definitely not one of the top songs in the competition, but this artiste is very creative, has a powerful impact on his audience and can turn a not-so-great song into a winner.
His presentation will no doubt be superb and he usually has well-thought out props for his performances.
Queen Anastasia is a superb calypsonian, but not so strong in the soca arena. However, she is a strong performer and uses the stage very well for her renditions.
Shakki StarFire is also a strong performer and will have to go the extra mile in terms of performance in order to convince the judges that she deserves to wear the crown.
She is certainly creative with her stage props and is well known for her dynamic stage entrances. In past competitions, she had entered the stage on cranes, motorcycles, etc. So, it will be exciting to see how she would make her entrance tonight.
X-man is not as strong as he was last year with ‘Food All Over’. Somehow, his song has not received the promotion or airplay it should be given, especially when entering a competition.
If the patrons don’t know the song, then how can they move to it?
Cinnamon and Nickhail did well at the Semi-Finals but in terms of winning the Finals, going all out is something that they will have to do with no limits.
Of the two artistes, Nickhail has the better song, and the key element he needs to look at is his stage presentation.
Now let us now look at the Power category and the competitors.
The order of appearance for this segment is as follows: Ali Dee, Fantastic Tunda, Stitch in Time, Konris, Contenda, Dimepiece, Shakki Starfire, Mr. World, Mighty Honesty and Mighty Takeover.
Many music lovers said that it is exciting to see Contenda back in the arena and they noted that his past hit, ‘Living in de Band’, would always be a classic.
His performance at the Semi-Finals was entertaining and it is believed that he would definitely have the crowd ‘moving’, perhaps even more so than his own son Konris.
But out of the persons performing in both categories, if any one of them will be taking both crowns tonight, Konris seems to be the cream of the crop.
However, what or where is his Power song?
SKNVibes is not even aware of the reigning Power king’s song title, so will his performance be exceptional with a new song? Will he be able to move the crowd even though the majority may not know it?
Perhaps it would not matter if the crowd knows his Power song or not, because, for all we know, he may even bring in an entire football team like he did last year and will certainly ensure that the crowd would be moving from left to right.
It had been years since the nation had seen the likes of Fantastic Tunda on a carnival stage, but he is back with a vengeance and his tune ‘Bite and Roll’ is a favourite.
The only thing he needs to do is to free-up himself and perform! We need to see him biting and rolling on the stage, and not walking from one end to the other.
In my opinion, Shakki Starfire’s ‘We Losing It’ is pretty exciting and much more appealing than her Groovy. She seems to shine more in Power style songs instead of Groovy.
Ali Dee is not so strong for the Power category as she is in the Groovy. She possesses a voice that reminds one of Trinidadian soca female artistes, but her song ‘Roc D Nation’ is not a favorite to win in this category.
Mr. World, the lead vocalist of Small Axe Band, will be performing ‘De Soap Drop’ and will definitely have a good chance of winning if he has a well-organised stage performance and does more than jump and prance on the stage.
Doing something different and more will certainly grab the judges attention.
There were also good reviews about Stitch In Time’s performance for the Power category, even more so than the Groovy. Let us hope that he tops his Semi-Finals performance which went down excellently with the audience.
Mighty Takeover’s song ‘Insane’ is definitely a frontrunner for the Power crown. He is not new to performing or winning. His song is catchy with good lyrics, and with a great stage performance and props he can easily take the crown.
Text to vote winner Dimepiece is not a strong performer compared with the others.
She seemed a bit shy and reserved at the Semi-Finals, but since she was able to get her fans, friends and family members to text her in to the Finals, then she may have some surprises for us tonight.
Many persons do not see Mighty Honesty’s ‘Sing Stupidness’ taking the crown tonight, but his song is no doubt the most popular one coming out of this year’s Carnival.
Well choreographed stage performances and his already creative lyrics will be a plus for him.
The Beaumont Park Soca Monarch Finals is scheduled to take place in the Sugar Mill (Warner Park Cricket Grounds) at 8:00 p.m.
