BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE calypsonians who will be representing their country in the King of Kings, Queen of Queens Soca/Calypso World Cup Championship for the Group A Division are set for the May 9 showdown.

The Group A Division consists of four calypsonians representing Dominica, Anguilla, Statia, St. Maarten, St. Martin and Saba.

Organiser of the event, Michael Walters of Universal Entertainment Cooperation told SKNVibes that the first elimination round is set for Saturday, May 9 at the Celebration Palace.

Representing Saba will be Bob Morgan, Everton Heyliger, Calypso Elvis and the Mighty Tall Man, and they will be matching talents with Statia’s Problem Child, Trini, Queen Jean and Showtime.

Anguilla will be coming up against St. Maarten and they will be represented by Queen B, King Repeater, King Splinter and King Springer, while King Beau Beau, Mighty Dow, Kaiso Genius and King Fish the Boss will be representing St. Maarten.

Dominica will be going against St. Martin and will be represented by King Karesah, Hunter, Scrunter and Dice while St. Martin will be represented by King Timo, Baker, The Fox and Kaiso Bratt.

Walters said that each calypsonian would sing one original song that was either a song from the past or from the present, and 12 of the 24 calypsonians would advance to the Semi-Finals in Barbados on November 26-28.

A total of 31 countries are expected to compete, including the Caribbean, Canada, England, USA and Holland, and the winner will walk away with US$50 000.

The second elimination will be held on May 30 and will see countries of group B competing for a spot in the Semi-Finals while Group C’s elimination will be held in Antigua in June.

Walters said that on October 31 four past national calypso kings, including the reigning kings of both St. Kitts and Nevis, would be competing against each other to advance to the Semi-Finals.

He said that in addition to the two reigning kings from the Federation, two other calypsonians would be chosen by the local Carnival Committee.

The best two calypsonians from the Federation will also advance along with the top two calypsonians from the other Caribbean countries to the Semi-Finals.

From Barbados, the top calypsonian from each country will move on to the Finals slated for March 27, 2010 in Antigua.