Dale’s the man

Mr Dale has done it again!For the second time, the Soca Junkie man has been crowned the People’s Monarch, achieving it this time with the ragga-soca tune Drop It.Traffic along River Road, The City, in the area of Starcom Network was halted momentarily yesterday evening, as drivers and pedestrians alike took up temporary positions to give a royal welcome for the newly-crowned monarch.In the final of the three-week long competition, Mr Dale was up against Blood. People were encouraged to vote via text, with the result that the reigning Party Monarch and Soca Royale champion Blood went down in defeat, while Dale claimed the $25 000 grand prize.As those lining the sidewalk loudly sang “Oh, we having a ball!” – a line from the winning tune – Mr Dale said he was “ecstatic” to know he had so much support from the public, and he was now “ready for the road”. He added that he had no idea that the song penned in his Deacons, St Michael home would move the Barbadian public so much.No problemMr Dale further said that he had no problem being pitted against fellow tent member Blood. He said both of them being finalists was really a “victory for Headliners”. The songwriter stated that this win showed the power of ragga-soca, which was, he said, “palatable to the international scene”. The new monarch extended special thanks for those who voted because “this one was for the people too”. He said he was aware his fans were disappointed that he did not place higher in the Sweet Soca competition last Sunday.After the announcement by Dennis Johnson, first runner-up Blood, along with his Soka Kartel partner Mikey, joined Mr Dale to give an impromptu performance of Drop It.  Blood said that he was “extremely happy” for Mr Dale’s victory. Lalu Vaswani, chairman of Satjay Bridgetown Centre, said his business was pleased to be one of the sponsors of the competition because it was a unique way to get people’s involvement and it played a major role in “developing our national personality”.  Johnson, programme manager of Starcom Network Inc., commented on the competition. “Like the World Cup, the favourites went early,” he said, referring to the elimination of the season’s biggest tunes, Go Down and Chrissening. (FM)