BASSETERRE St. Kitts – TWO nights of non-stop battle for supremacy finally ended on Sunday (Nov. 8) as 18 of the Federation’s top calypsonians sang their way through to the upcoming Semi-Finals, but the results came as a shock to many patrons.
Both events, which began on a late start and progressed into the following day, saw the riveting but yet challenging performances by contestants for this year’s National Senior Calypso Monarch title.
As they were individually introduced, each calypsonian was given a timeframe to perform their singles, which were scored out of a possible 100 points.
Each contestant was scored on their Lyrical Content, which carried the most points (40), and 30 points each for Presentation and Performance.
On the first night of competition held at De House Nitery, a massive turnout of supporters cheered on the energetic and informative performers, while others struggled to get the crowd’s approval.
One would have agreed that most of the performers were plagued by the overwhelming rainfall, which had stalled things a bit, but there were some hopefuls who braved the weather and delivered memorable performances.
It was back to the war zone on the following night, as the contenders who did not compete at De House Nitery reported to the 17 Degrees hangout spot to fight for the remaining spots in the Semi-Finals.
Luckily for them, they were able to perform in an indoor atmosphere.
At the end of the both nights, Chairman of the Carnival Committee Sylvester Anthony revealed that the 16 semi-finalist in order of their rankings were: Larry ‘Alamoulou’ Armony, Sylvester ‘King Socrates’ Hodge, Oscar ‘Astro’ Browne, Kimara ‘Lady Diva’ Martin, Hansill ‘Ritchie Buntin’ Buntin, George ‘Kinta’ Gilbert, Nigel ‘Rudder’ Williams, Jacqueline ‘Singing Jackie’ Leader, Victor ‘Lord Payne’ Payne, Geron ‘Quantash’ Martin, Trevor ‘Zarkie’ Richards, Learie ‘Mighty Honesty’ Hobson, Kibiane ‘Queen Kibi’ Willet, Devon ‘Lord Kut’ Liburd, Calvin ‘I-Soursop’ Johnson and Gerald ‘Bra Bread’ Herbert.
There were also two reserved positions filled by Dion ‘Ayatollah’ Stevens and Bertram ‘Persuader’ Thompson, bringing it to a total of 18 in the Grand Finale on December 15.
