Culture

Junior Monarch Semis showdown Sunday

Out of the mouths of babes… hear the sweetest calypso and soca at The National Cultural Foundation’s (NCF) 2023 Scotiabank Junior Monarch Competition Semi-Finals on Sunday, July 2 at 6 p.m., at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.

Witness 26 up-an-coming artistes – 14 in the calypso category and 12 in soca – vie for their place in the final eight (per division) with songs that highlight societal issues and reflect the cultural zeitgeist.

Attendants of the recent Scotiabank Junior Monarch Tents got a taste of what’s to come as contestants fine-tuned their performances for the night. Gesturing, inflecting and expressing like their older counterparts as they shared their offerings; some tackling hot button topics in their stanzas and choruses.

Like bullying. Haylei Hailstorm Wise, with Both Sides, and Khalija Khaleesi Kellman, with De Bully gave multifaceted perspectives of the “tyrant” and how it affects the abused, the abuser, and provided suggestions for prevention.

Sakarah Sakarah Thomas cheekily tackled hyper-connectivity with Alexa (“It’s like yuh phone smarter than you/You asking it what to do”), and Eden Potent Murrell’s Can’t Lash We lays bare the cultural contrast, between Barbados and the United States, as he addressed corporal punishment.

Eden’s sister, Destiny Destiny Murrell, lamented the factors that cause children to inherit the adult problems in their adolescence with My Environment, while Kenaz The Mighty Bit Bit Walker warned of the repercussions from detrimental influences on Drugs and Disobedience.

Kadarius King K Allen expressed his anxieties surrounding violence on Dear God; Sabiah Sabiah Gaskin’s Your Creation turned the mirror back on adults who wonder “How de yout’s get so?” (“It is you who teach we to cuss/It is you who teach we to fuss,”); and Danesha Danika Davis conveyed the long-lasting effects of losing a loved one to cruelty with Dear John, a tribute to her father.

Relissa Re Re Mitcham also eulogised a loved one with My Granny, a deeply emotional reflection that brought tears to her eyes and to some of those in the crowd.

Reserve Joshua King Boy King shared his spiritual solution to the nation’s adversities with Give Thanks, and Alyssa Slay Harris revealled her aspiration to follow in the footsteps of powerful women like Prime Minister Mia Mottley and Rihanna on Just Like These Women.

Her namesake, Alyssa Queen A Cumberbatch, used The Black Reality to call for unity within the nation, and Kiara Mhizz Khibaba Drayton-Archer’s Unity is Strength echoed that cry, arguing that we should prioritise coming together for matters of importance

The soca artistes had, too, their say over a mix of pace, bashment and groovy rhythms.

encouraged us to live a healthy lifestyle and combat poor eating habits, which can lead to non-communicable diseases, on Get Active (“Get yuh friends and yuh family/Let we start exercising daily”).

Kymani The Showman Devonish (We Doan Care and Ranesha Ranesha Stewart (Good Vibes) both proclaimed their relief of, and welcome to, the unconstrained return of the sweetest summer festival after the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Vivid depictions of the sights and sounds of our cultural spectacle were also delivered by Revenn YSR Moseley (Sweet Lime), Rimiya Majestic Miya Wilson (We Crop Ova), Thierry TiJay Belgrave (Ah Feeling), and Joshua Joshua B Blackman (Dis Sweet Festival)

On Jam Down, Rashad King Shad Applewaithe boasted how his impairment is not a hindrance (“My vision might be blurry/But dat int no worry”), and Sephon Lil’ Stathis Sealy and Rohjani Rohjani Shurland-Agard anticipated the ending of the school year with Fold In Half and Vacation respectively.

Joshua Joshox Oxley used his storytelling skills to outline a conundrum and his solution on Push de Truck, and Trinity Clarke’s I Love Soca shared her affection for the genre and its effects.

Markers have been laid and areas of improvement identified. Now it is on to the Semi-Finals, to see who takes their next step to the crown.

The 2023 Scotiabank Junior Monarch Competition Semi-Finals takes place on Sunday, July

Culture

BPS Crop Over Do-Flicky Costume Competition Winners Announced

Five winning teams have emerged from the recently held prize-giving ceremony of the inaugural ‘Barbados Postal Service (BPS) 2024 Crop Over Do-Flicky Costume Competition’.

The winners hail from the Post Offices of St. Joseph; St. George; Welches Road; St. Philip and the General Post Office in Cheapside.

The overall winner of the competition is the eight-member team of the General Post Office’s Accounts Section, who each received an Island Safari Tour. Second place went to the Welches Road Post Office, third was the St. Philip Post Office, fourth was the St. George Post Office and fifth place went to the St. Joseph Post Office.

Winning Teams (flanked by BPS management), of the inaugural ‘BPS Crop Over Do-Flicky Costume Competition’, from the GPO; Welches Road PO; St. Philip PO; St. George PO and the St. Joseph PO.

Postmaster General, Joann Busby, in her address to the winners, stated, “We look forward to many more events like this in the future, celebrating both our history and commitment to excellence.”

Concept Creator of the competition, BPS Marketing Officer Neiai Hall said, “This competition aims to showcase the creativity and cultural expression of our staff, through costume design and performance. The theme of the competition is rooted in our rich heritage and the vibrant spirit of Crop Over.

On left – ‘BPS Crop Over Do-Flicky Costume Competition’ 2nd Place Winning Costume, On right – ‘BPS Crop Over Do-FFlicky Costume Competition’ 3rd Place Winning Costume.

“We have encouraged participants to design costumes that not only display their creativity but also incorporate elements that represent the services offered by the BPS”.

The judging criteria consisted of Sustainability; Creativity; Depiction of a BPS Service; Originality; Portrayal; Video Creativity and Originality; Practicality and Inclusivity and Descriptive Write-Up.

Plaques were presented to each of the winning teams and the St. Joseph Post Office also received the Postmaster General’s special award for Outstanding Advertising Video in the competition. (PR/GIS)

Culture

LAST LAP WEEKEND – Ended with Pic-o-de-Crop Finals, Foreday Jump and Kadooment

AN INCIDENT FREE FESTIVAL By David Harris

After two months of activities that included early morning breakfast fetes and late-night parties, the golden anniversary of the Crop Over Festival ended with the Grand Kadooment on Monday.

Over 10.000 revellers in 18 bands danced on the new route which began at the Helipad in Bridgetown and ended in front of Kensington Oval. The street parade was changed its 9 a.m. start to 10 a.m. by the National Cultural Foundation after the Barbados Meteorological Service placed the island under a severe thunderstorm watch.

Eventually, the Blue Box Cart band got the parade moving at 10.07 and the masqueraders began wining and chipping on the streets of Bridgetown.

Only 13 of the 18 bands on parade judged, among the revellers were Barbadian superstar and National Hero, the Right Excellent Robin Rihanna Fenty and former West Indies captain Brian Lara.

Some bands were still heading towards the Mighty Grynner Highway just before at minutes to 9 o’clock. Aura was the last band to reach the highway before the police ended the parade.

The Grand Kadooment ended an action-packed weekend that included the Pic O De Crop Finals at the National Botanical Gardens in Waterford on Friday night, the Foreday Morning Jam which began in Bridgetown in the wee hours of morning and the Grand Kadooment on Monday.

Fans were primed for thrilling contest between the defending monarch IWeb (Ian Webster) and Adrian “AC” Clarke who placed second in last year’s Pic O De Crop competition; but it was AC who captured the crown for the third time after IWeb who appeared to have forgotten the lyrics of the De Village Ram in the second half of the competition.

Clarke performed at number 16 (immediately behind IWeb) and stamped his authority on the competition with an impressive performance of the self-penned Going Fuh Crown, the judges awarded him 133 points, 28 more than Sir Ruel who came second.

Adrian Clarke the 2024 Calypso Monarch

His impressive performance won the first prize of $100,000 or a Nissan E Powe X- Trail valued at $136,000; Clarke told journalists after the competition he had opted to take the vehicle instead of the prize money. Clarke, 52, first won the crown in 2001 and in 2008.

Sir Ruel was the most outstanding performer in the first half with A Single Bullet, he wrote the calypso in memory of his brother Dario Jon-Luc Holder-Branch who was shot to death in February this year. The former Junior Monarch amassed 105 points and won a cash prize of $40,000.

*Sir Ruel, Pic of de Crop, 2nd place winner*

Perennial finalist Chrystal Cummins-Beckles placed third with De Proposal, the multi-talented musician, arranger and composer was awarded 97 points and the $20,000 prize.

Billboard placed fourth for the second consecutive his calypso earned him a cash prize of $15,000; and first timer Tae, the youngest competitor in the final took the fifth position and $10,000 with A Big Cirus.

Calypsonians placing from the sixth to tenth position received $8,000 each, those coming 11 th to 18 th got $6000.

The competition started 51 minutes after the scheduled 8 p.m. due to technical hitches with video presentations, and one contestant (Kid Site) had to start over his song because of problems with the audio. The second half started just after midnight and ended at 2.10 a.m.

In commemoration of the 50 th anniversary of the Crop Festival there were performances by former monarchs the Mighty Destroyer. Red Plastic, the Mighty Gabby and Edwin Yearwood.