Four Guyanese are among 23 artistes in the final of the 26th Chutney Soca Monarch competition, seeking to dethrone the reigning monarch, Trinidadian Chutney singer GI Beharry.
The Guyanese artistes are Vanita Willie with her song “Poowah”, Tony Cuttz with “My Johnny Walker”, Vicadi Singh with “Never Gonna Leave” and Prince JP with “‘It’s Over”. The winner will be the people’s choice and votes will be submitted via text.
The semi-finals which were held at the start of this month saw 36 competitors, who were shortlisted from 65 applicants.
This year’s competition was unlike any other with the COVID pandemic in play. As a result, no one performed in a physical setting, contestants simply entered their songs. The 23 selected songs will again go up against each other tonight along with Beharry’s song.
“Poowah”, “My Johnny Walker”, and “Never Gonna Leave” are recent releases which have become hits locally and in Trinidad also. The songs have caught the attention of fans all over the world, so much so that their singers have been dubbed the ‘Guyanese invasion’.
Speaking with The Scene, Tony Cuttz, the newest in the music biz of the Guyanese finalists, exclaimed that he is overjoyed to have made it this far. “As a new artiste, it is exciting,” he singer.
The artiste, who made his debut at the Chutney Monarch competition in Guyana last year, had secured third place with his song “Neighbour Roti”.
“My Johnny Walker” has been making it big in both Guyana and Trinidad since its release. “Ravi B say he like the song. It was a big deal coming from him especially with a singer of his [stature] in Chutney music knowing about a song coming from someone like me,” said an ecstatic Tony. He is confident that his song will be in contention tonight.
Meanwhile, Vicadi Singh shared that following the release of “Never Gonna Leave”, he had people hitting him up from around the world including someone from Africa who commented on his song video on YouTube. He also participated in Guyana’s Chutney Monarch competition last year and finished fourth.
He has been on the music scene five years now. “It is a privilege to be considered for the finals,” he said.
“It’s a great feeling knowing that you can go on a grand platform and represent Guyana,” said overseas-based Guyanese artiste Prince JP. “It’s Over”, he shared, is a love song that is reflective of society. He explained that in the song the woman in the relationship was too busy listening to what her family and friends thought about her partner to realize that it was not true which eventually saw the pair going their separate ways.
Prince JP said that with his life being taken up with family and a full-time job, he had not even considered entering up a competition. Then Trinidadian singer Ranjiv Singh, who was responsible for advertising the competition in New York, contacted him and encouraged him to enter.
The artiste shared that he is looking forward to competing in a physical setting once more when things normalise.
Willie was unavailable for comment.
The other contestants in the final are: Damian Sookram, Jairam Dindial, Ricardo Melville, Prince Navin Prabhoo, Dubraj Persad, Derrick Seales, Rasiak Dindial, Kenneth Supersad, Riz & Theatrics, Russel M, Shiva Lakhan, Cherish Ragonanan, Neeshad Sultan Reshma Ramlal, Surendra Ramoutar, Veejai Ramkissoon, Saleem Beharry, Nisha Ramsook, and Adesh Samaroo.
To vote today, persons residing in Guyana or internationally outside of Trinidad can text the name of their favourite contestant to +1868-7980141. For persons living in Trinidad and Tobago, the number to text to is 64726.
The final can be viewed on YouTube. Polls are open throughout today for voting.
