Rebel had the titillating song, obvious crowd support and a solid performance, which is all it took for him to grab the calypso monarchy for the sixth time early yesterday morning.
His calypso, “All Ah We Know de Man”, was an instant hit from the time the first verse left his lips and the massive crowd gathered at Thirst Park soaked it up and crowned him king before the judges’ scores were in. But even a stellar performance from the Mighty Rebel was not enough to rescue a calypso final that was largely disappointing.
The dethroned monarch Lester ‘The Professor’ Charles showed up, but no one even noticed. His entry this year, “Divine Interven-tion” was surprisingly weak and it failed to connect with the audience.
To add insult to injury, people were filing out of Thirst Park while he was on stage defending his title.
The Mighty Believer, the young calypsonian who was heavily favoured, showed up with enough confidence to spread across the line-up. However, by the time he was through on stage it was clear that the title was still waiting on someone to claim it though Canary was looking pretty good.
Reports are that Believer fell down on his performance and that his calypso lacked substance.
He tied for third with calypsonian Lady D, who performed a piece called “Stop dis Brutality”, but many rejected Believer’s finish saying that he had deserved the runner-up position which went to the veteran, Lord Canary.
“Y’all rob da man, y’all rob da man,” a man shouted in Believer’s defence when the results were announced and as people were leaving the ground some argued that Believer was robbed. Believer also rejected the results and in a brief comment to this newspaper he said, “I am upset”.
Singing in the opening spot where most calypsonians prefer not to, Lord Canary kicked things off in fine style. His song, “Something Wrong”, which laments the current state of regional cricket, resonated and a few minutes into the performance Thirst Park was chanting, “Something wrong, something wrong”. Canary was his fearless self and he stood on stage and delivered a solid calypso that touched people on various levels.
After more than five decades in the art form Canary is still looking and sounding good which is why his second place finish was not surprising. Like Rebel, he knows when to show up strong and when to deliver a winning performance, maybe it has something to do with the years of campaigning. Canary was still looking good even after Rebel had performed.
Rebel is regarded as the king of stage presentations and on Sunday night he went all out.
He performed his calypso against a fictional backdrop of the Office of the President and a public official who he sang about in his song was portrayed on stage. In his calypso Rebel slammed the official over an alleged case of child solicitation and he repeatedly cried out the words, “Shame, shame, Shame!” The crowd went wild from the first few words and it was clear at that point he was the man to beat.
The memorable performances came from Canary; Rebel; Believer; Lady D and Lady Karen. Lady D is fairly new on the scene, but she has been moving up nicely. Her calypso addressed the issue of the tortured teenaged boy and she showed up on stage with a young man portraying the lad.
Lady Karen’s song, “Put Two Wheels on yuh Heels”, was a hit with women in the audience. The domestic violence piece electrified women in the crowd as Lady Karen called on them to pack up and leave any partner who gets abusive.
Prior to the announcement of the judges the newly crowned junior calypso monarch, Tenecia DeFreitas performed her song, “I Don’t Want to be Born” and those who watched her all came to one simple conclusion; her calypso this year is the stand-out piece of work by any calypsonian junior or senior. It was not only the social commentary which is alive in the piece, but the emotive manner in which the young performer delivered her song which sets her apart this year.
There had long been a debate as to whether junior monarch should be allowed to contest the finals of the senior competition, but this is still being discussed. The consensus now is that the two competitions are separate and should remain that way. But DeFreitas has already proved she is capable of competing with the veterans; she competed in the HIV/AIDS song competition this year with seven seasoned campaigners and easily won.