Two newcomers stole the show and took the top honours when the Soca and Chutney Monarch competitions concluded last Saturday.
Gospel singer Samuel Medas was crowned the new Soca Monarch, while Kevin Satrohan Singh was crowned the Chutney Monarch. They were also the recipients of the Best Newcomer awards in their respective competitions, which saw a total of 20 talents vying for the honours when the curtains were raised by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport at the National Cultural Centre (NCC).
Medas took the stage by storm with a spectacular performance of his song ‘Stadium,’ which left little doubt that he would be crowned the new Soca Monarch by the end of the night.
In his performance of the Gospel Soca piece, the singer said he didn’t enter the competition for the prize money or the crown but to deliver a message. His song spoke of Guyanese despite their differences in ethnicity always uniting and celebrating at the Stadium whenever there was sports and pining for those days to come again. “I know we had a tough year… Jesus said you gon’ be alright,” he said.
Another notable performance was turned in by Vintage, who performed his ‘Work Attire’ song. Outgoing Soca Monarch Diana Chapman, as always, produced a powerful performance when she did her rendition of the song ‘Stage,’ while singer Tennecia ‘Nekeita’ DeFreitas also shined with her song ‘Vibez Again’. Four-time Soca Monarch Jumo ‘Rubber Waist’ Primo also worked the stage with his song ‘Party In Meh House’.
There was a common theme present in the majority of the songs presented by the Soca contestants, who were anticipating the end of COVID 19 and celebrating. For his part, Primo settled for the virtues of partying inside his house with his song. The other contestants competing were Tropical (‘Gimme That Wine’), Malo (‘Anywhere’), Vanilla (‘I Don’t Give A’), Brandon Harding (‘We Belong’) and B-52, formerly known by the stage name ‘Lil Man,’ who after nine years of not competing returned to the stage with the song ‘Martian’.
Medas took the top spot with 282 points, while Chapman came second with 275, and DeFreitas secured the third place with 273 points. Primo finished fourth with 266 points.
The Chutney Monarch Competition kicked off the night with ten persons contesting for the title.
Roger ‘Young Bill Rogers’ Hinds opened the competition with his ‘The Larkis Man’ song. Last year’s Chutney Monarch Bunty Singh followed with his song ‘Treat Yuh Woman Right’, the first part of which could not be heard owing to technical difficulties. Also a delight for viewers was the father-daughter duo Anil Azez and Rap Anna. Also competing were Vanita Willie, whose husband, Wazir Haniff, another newcomer, was also her competitor at the competition, Sonya Ragbeer (‘Dulha Aage Dhare Dhare’), Dennis King (‘Roll It’), Allisha ‘Queen Allisha’ Craig (‘I Am In Love’), and Sweet Kendingo (‘Gyal Ah Wah Meh Do Yuh’).
However, it was Kevin Singh with his patriotic ‘My Baby Guyana’ who got the nod from the judges, securing the top spot with 257 points. The runners up were Bunty Singh, with 253 points, Vanita Willie, with 247 points, and Young Bill Rogers, with 244 points.
Meanwhile, the Panorama steel band competition was hosted on Tuesday at the NCC, where contestants playing the steel pans competed in the Junior Solo, Senior Solo, Pan Duet, and Pan Jazz categories.
The top three in the Junior Solo category were: Andrew Charles in first place, Chris Blake in second and Hadassah Lewis in third.
In the Senior Solo category Delroy Dey took the top spot, Michael Smith Jr. took second place and Jovanka Williams finished third. For the Pan Duet, the top spots went to Don Johnson & Jovanka Williams, followed by Adrian Benjamin & Andrew Charles, and Donwin Stuart & Denicia Sullivan, in second and third places, respectively.
Panorama concluded with the performances for the Pan Jazz Category and securing the Top Three spots were four groups: Kurjah Steel Ensemble ‘Nora’ (1st place), The Parkside ‘Rain-o-Rama’ (2nd place) and tying for the third spot were the National School of Music with ‘Cheers to Life’, and Fantastic 7 with ‘Jamming’.
