Barbadian entertainer Omar Marzville McQuilkin has no hard feelings about being left out of the top four of the International Soca Monarch (ISM).
Early Saturday morning from the Queens Park Savannah in Port of Spain, Trinidadian Aaron Voice St Louis retained the ISM title for the third-straight year and received TT$300 000 in prize money.
He came out on top ahead of 11 other competitors from the region including Marzville who sang Give it To Ya.
Marzville was the last performer of the night at the now down-sized annual Carnival event and he received a lukewarm reception from the thousands in attendance.
However throughout the performance, his vocals shone even as he was joined on stage by Trini Denise Belfon who he ‘gave it’ to briefly. Following the announcement of the top spots, some Barbadians used social media to voice their concerns about his placement.
Speaking to NATION ONLINE moments ago, Marzville said though the performance did not go as planned, he was still satisfied with the end result.
“You can’t predict the future . . . we had some obstacles. Some things were supposed to be there but weren’t, so we had to do some changes on the spot but it was all good,” he said.
He added that he honoured to have been able to perform on the platform. “The artistes that placed, they did well. They had some nice presentations. Everybody come out with their best and the judges’ decision is final. I just happy that I was a part of it,” he said.
This was the first year he made it to the finals, after only making it to the semi-finals with Bang Bim last year. Voice’s previous wins were for 2016’s Cheers to Life and last year’s Far From Finished. This year his closest rival was Dexter Blaxx Stewart who performed the motivational Hulk, he came in second, taking home TT$200 000 in prize money.
Rounding off the top four at the now scaled-down event was Orlando Octave who sang Love You So and received TT$150 000, while newcomer Trevon Turner nabbed fourth position with Champions. (TG)
