Biko congratulates carnival winners

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Parent Category: Aug 2011

Category: Week ending Aug 13th, 2011

Published on Sunday, 14 August 2011 18:56

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Dethroned Calypso Monarch, Biko Lewis believes the emergence of Pamela Courtney as the 2011 National Calypso Monarch can serve as an impetus for young women to now come forward and participate in calypso competitions. In an exclusive interview with The New Today Newspaper, Biko said it is nice to see that the local calypso artform was able to produce a woman who for the first time in competition was able to win the coveted title.

Pam as she is being referred to, is the third woman to have won the National Calypso Monarch Title. She scored 781 points with her two selections, “Agents of change,” and “Vagrancy.” Biko indicated that he is happy that Pam came out victorious as she is a member of the Kaiso Bards calypso tent with which he is associated. He said he believes this would now encourage all of the other young women to come forward and take part in the national calypso competition.

Biko who won the Calypso Monarch on two occasions spoke of his satisfaction over the incident-free carnival season. The Chantimelle, St. Patrick’s resident saw it necessary to extend congratulations to all of the other winners of carnival, including the new Soca Monarch King, Terror Kid who also resides at Chantimelle. He also praised the efforts of city businessman, Hugh Dolland for being able to play a major role this year at helping to revive the calypso artform.

The Spice Basket at Beaulieu, St. George’s, which is owned by Dolland, was able to host a clash of all of the five calypso tents for the first time after a lapse for many years. Although not being bugged down with his fifth-place position at the calypso competition, Biko said it was indicated to him by a reliable source that some of the judges were not hearing him properly in the second round of competition.

He said he felt that the music put out by the band was way over his voice level. “So I understood that was a big fall for me in the second round,” he added. According to the former Calypso Monarch, the band was scheduled to conduct a sound check after returning from the intermission break but apparently that was not done.

However, he said he was pleased to see an increase in the number of patrons at the Dimanche Gras show at the Grenada National Stadium. The former calypso monarch disclosed that he is going into reggae music and will soon be releasing a new song.

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