Guyana’s new soca chutney king Haresh Singh will head to Trinidad & Tobago to take place in that country’s soca chutney competition along with Terry Gajraj and Fiona Singh who placed second and third respectively.
The final of the much anticipated competition, which was hosted on Sunday evening at the National Cultural Centre also saw Haresh Singh taking home the first prize of $550,000 and a trophy, while Gajraj and Fiona Singh were awarded $350,000 and $200,000 along with trophies.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr Frank Anthony, noted that the quality and lyrics produced by the contestants on the local level have made a commendable transformation.
The minister made the observation when he met the three finalists and the producer of T&T’s competition, George Singh, in the conference room of his ministry yesterday.
According to a GINA press release, these contestants have automatically advanced as finalists in the T&T competition, scheduled to be held shortly. Anthony believes that the decision to have the three enter as finalists in the upcoming competition will benefit Guyana with “rich opportunities” and will result in similar partnerships for other artistes in calypso and other genres.
Anthony stated that the collaboration between Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago serves as a fragment of the government’s wider approach of exposing its local talent and further enhance the skills of these artistes, and later place them on the international scene.
“This is seen as exposing our artistes to a larger crowd of competitors which all adds up to providing opportunities for our local artistes…this will also help to improve their skills by increased exposure at a different level…I am confident it will do Guyana proud,” he said.
Convenor of the Chutney competition, Neaz Subhan congratulated the winners of the competition which was lauded for its high standard while George Singh, Producer of Trinidad’s Soca Chutney monarch competition recognized the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) and National Communications Network (NCN), for their integral roles in the local leg.
“GT&T has been identified as the text provider for Guyana so that Guyanese can vote via text for their favourite artiste…NCN has been identified as the official station for live broadcast in Guyana,” Singh said.
According to the release George Singh revealed that the event will be broadcast live across the Caribbean by CMC and will see international voting from countries like the United States of America and Canada. This, he said, will open a host of opportunities for Guyanese, coupled with the fact that regional and international scouts will be at the competition to recruit new talents.
“All three Guyanese would receive no less than $1 million for their participation in the event… Guyanese should not only vote for their own but for the most talented artistes… each phone will be restricted to a maximum of 15 votes… those casting votes online will be restricted to one vote,” Singh said.
Trinidad’s Soca Chutney monarch competition is being held this year under the theme “One Caribbean, one People, one Music”.
