Young entertainer Duane O’Connor took the 2012 Calypso crown Sunday night, capturing the TT$1 million prize following the threat of a boycott over prize monies.
A last-minute agreement to raise the top prize from $500 000 to $1 million (BDS$159 617 to $319 234) emerged around midday Sunday after the finalists in the Trinidad and Tobago 2012 Carnival calypso competition had argued about being left out while other competitions, including Panorama and International Soca Monarch, had benefited from increases.
President of the Trinidad Unified Calypsonians Organisation Lutalo “Brother Resistance” Malimba had dubbed the $500 000 “disrespectful” and yesterday called for a further hike next year as well as a calypsonians’ broadcast licence fee to give kaiso more exposure.
O’Connor, who also won the Young Kings contest earlier this season, was crowned at the end of the Dimanche Gras show, after humbling 11 other calypsonians, including last year’s queen Karene Asche and veterans Chalkdust, Sugar Aloes and Cro-Cro at the Queen’s Park Savannah, in Port-of-Spain.
O’Connor rendered The Hunt Is On and Long Live Calypso and was particularly impactful in the first half, which he ended with the appearance of two “uniformed” police officers, including a popular TV talk show host known for his criticism of crime in the two islands. His second song, Long Live Calypso, was a solid tribute to the art form and a noteworthy comment on those who reject kaiso for other trendy musical forms in their youth but lament the potential demise of calypso when they reach their 40s.
The second position was tied by Kurt Allen and Asche. Allen offered a powerful double-entendre on the country’s crime situation with It Is Alleged, which laments the slow process of justice when officials put urgent cases on “a ledge”.
Asche, 27 and a bit of a conundrum in terms of her very youthful Junior Monarch-type voice in opposition to her mature and biting lyrics, presented a well-dramatised analysis of underlying racial tension which causes “tug-o-war and tit-for-tat” and hinders the full development of Trinidad and Tobago after 50 years of independence. This song was titled You Will Win De Battle But . . . .
In the overall Dimanche Gras show, the kings and queens of the bands contest was the icing on the cake of Sunday’s musical and masquerade creativity. In that contest, Roland St George portraying Ralliez-Vous A Mon Panache Blanche (Follow My White Plume) took the King Of The Carnival bands’ title, while the Queen Of Carnival was Charisse Bovell portraying the haunting Mother Of Humanity – The Weeping Madonna.
St George finished ahead of Gerard Weekes with Malak Yahweh – The Praying Mantis, Curtis Eustace with The Midnight Messenger, Adrian Young with The Crow, Earl Thompson with Icarus Ascending, Brian Chin with Prince Siegfried – the story of Swan Lake (a tribute to Wayne Berkeley), Zainool Mohammed with Kwak Waka Wakin – The Sacred Totem, Wade Madray with Flight Of Conscience, Jhawhan Thomas with Alpha and Shane Philip with Tree Of Life.
The Queen Of Carnival results: Charisse Bovell with Mother Of Humanity – The Weeping Madonna, Roxanne Omalo with Last Dance Of The Enchanted Witches, Rose Marie Kuru Jagessar with Wachiwi – I Dream Of A Bustle Dancer, Shari Derek – D’Woman and D’Butterflies, Kay Mason – Amethyst Rising, Lanie Lezama – Harmony, Cherry-Ann Patrice Valere – The Limbo Dancer, Laura Rampersad – Princess Of The Mardi Gras, Patricia Bailey – Exotic Sunset On The Horizon, and Avernell Johnson – Princess Odette Queen Of The Swans.
