Culture

Team TC is repping the ladies

The People’s Queen and her royal family will showcase their musical sovereignty on stage for 98.1 The One Soca 4.0.

“It is really telling a story of 40 years of my career,” said Terencia TC Coward of her performance at the National Botanical Gardens on Sunday, August 6th.

“And not just mine alone, but all of the artistes who would’ve come along within those 40 years – also an opportunity for them to tell theirs.”

Her story started at the age of 15 with a dare to go on stage and sing. Accepting that challenge led her to writing her name in the history books of Barbadian music.

Chapters of this journey include being the co-lead vocalist of the band Coalishun, a solo career that included three albums New Direction, Colour Me Soca and Colour Me Soca Volume II), multiple soca and calypso classics Wrong Name (Kim), Jammers (Yes), Hot Sun & Riddim, Know What Yuh Got, and big wins in the Sweet Soca Monarch (2009, 2010) and Party Monarch (2009).

Pen still in hand, the calypso queen will continue writing for the people that motivate her to keep going.

“It’s the fans, and the belief that what I bring to the table is important to the festival and the country as a whole,” she said.

SugahRhe has been one artiste inspired by the TC story, growing up around the calypso arena and meeting the Soca Monarch behind-the-scenes.

“She was one of the persons that would’ve encouraged me as well as a young female artistes before to keep pushing and keep working on my craft. Always had good advice and stuff like that with regards to stage and performance. So definitely she means a lot to me as an artist as well,” she said.

The Sugah Bam Bam singer joins, Natahlee Burke, Chrissy D, Rhea Layne, and 2023 Junior Monarch Soca Champion, Tae as part of the women-dominated Team TC which also includes Red Plastic Bag, Hypasounds and Buggy Nhakente.

This was intentional, TC said, to fight against the tokenism women continue to face in the soca arena.

“I wanted to make sure my team gave a number of young females an opportunity to get on a stage at this level. So there have been some young people that I have been monitoring and having my eye on over the years. Seeing what they’re doing. And then there was also a measure of relationships that I would’ve built with people over time,” she explained.

Her honesty and openness, in conversation and in music, has kept her at the forefront of a male-dominated space, and made her a champion to her supporters.

“I would never take for granted the platform that I have. So I try to use my platform to educate, to illuminate and to guide,” she said.

This will continue at 98.1 The One Soca 4.0, which will top off the great Crop Over season she has been having.

“It’s been fantastic. I’ve had the good fortune that I’m actually doing quite a bit of work in terms of performances. That is what every artiste wants to do. And it’s been a while since I’ve performed at Crop Over to this extent,” she added.

At the National Botanical Gardens, Terencia and her team plan to put on a show she describes as “pure energy” and “pure vibes”.

“It’s gonna be extremely musical. I believe I’ve enlisted the services of some of the finer musicians in the country. And we’re going to do things a little bit differently in terms of how we put the music together. And in termof how we’re going to bring to the stage as well,” she said. (PR)

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.