THERE IS NO certainty that nine-time Pic-O-De-Crop monarch Stedson Red Plastic Bag Wiltshire will be contesting the crown this year.
“I always feel an urge to do what my fans want me to do but I must tell you that [over] the last five years I have lost my enthusiasm for competition. For the last couple years I have competed that was because of my fans,” he said.
Wiltshire was speaking at the 2011 launch of De ADC Digicel Big Show calypso tent yesterday in the Almond Bay conference room, Hastings, Christ Church.
He said competition placed “tremendous stress” on him due to the public’s expectations and he did not want to be a part of it right now.
“If I were to make a decision now, I would say I don’t want to be a part of it but I’m now getting my stuff finalized in the studio and I’ll see how it goes; when the tents start and if I feel I want to be a part of the competition for the sake of my fans, I would consider it but right now I prefer to say I am ambivalent about my position as it relates to competition [this year],” he said.
Tent mate John King reiterated his absence from the competition this year. In Monday’s DAILY NATION, he was quoted as saying the Pic-O-De-Crop was “going from bad to worse” and he was not “forcing himself” to compete in it any longer.
Instead, he said yesterday he would be trying for the Party Monarch and Sweet Soca competitions.
He explained that he had been challenged to compete in those competitions.
“Every time people tell me I can’t, that’s when I get ready to do. I will throw all of my concentration into those two competitions,” he said.
The Big Show opens June 19 at the Plantation Garden Theatre and will be judged on June 30.
This year there will be 16 cast members, including a 17-year-old going by the stage name Dija, the youngest member.
Chairman of the parent company, Starward Enterprises Inc, Hallam Nicholls said the tent would be hosting some Trinidadian acts this year in a special series of fetes.
The launch included companies ADC Building and Maintenance Ltd and Uwe Harrs presenting sponsorship cheques. (CA)
