Soca Monarch Semi-Finals Aftermath - The CNC Edition

After watching the Semi Finals of the International Soca Monarch competition last night, and cracking up with my peeps on Facebook, I thought it may be a good idea to jot down some thoughts that the organisers, entertainers and CNC3 should take note of for next year.

*unfolds paper with list*

Organisers
1. Never ever again have CNC air this show. Whether it be delayed or not. NEVER. Find someone else to give/sell the rights to.

2. Stop picking "entertainers" (I use this term loosely here) just to make up a list. More than HALF the people who were there, should not have been. (Not calling any names this time).

3. Stop the farce of having people draw for positions. Just tell them the day and start time so they know what day to show up.

4. Never ever again, cut off the Mighty Shadow. EVER. Penalise him if need be, but don't cut him off. That is just damn disrespectful to a performer of his caliber.

CNC
1. There's a little something called branding.This was supposed to be in International show! Hang up a little banner with your name/logo/something so people when they tune in will see who airing the show...or maybe you all were too shame.

2. Hosts should know what going on.
They should know who coming up next without having to look at a mash up fold up piece of paper.
They should look like they have proper credentials and not be in front a fence looking like they didn't get their media passes.
They should have an accent that I can identify with as a Trinidadian watching the show.
They should not get distracted by half naked performers Lil Kim inspired outfits. (im just saying)

And finally...

ENTERTAINERS

1. Stop using the following phrases immediately:
"Low"
"Gimme a one drop"
"Anybody from [insert country/city here]"
"Lemme see yuh hand in de air!" and/or "Put yuh two hand in de air"

2. Stop shouting. Sing.

3. Stop singing over tracks. Just sing.

4. Use your backup dancers and props wisely. Sometimes they are really unnecessary. You don't need folding tables from Pricesmart for the girls to wine up on unless your song is about shopping by Pricesmart. (Remember the year Benjai placed third in the finals with NO props?)

5. Pay those winer girls and backup dancers well for embarrassing themselves so soundly in front of thousands.

and most importantly entertainers...

6. STOP TOTING. Nobody came to see or hear you tote. Nobody care. All we want to do is enjoy your performance and wine down low.

K2K for Carnival 2K12!

So it is official! I have jumped ship!
I am no longer in Bliss, my costume has been sold and I am now playing mas with K2K.

K2K launched at Saute Trinbago and from the time I laid my eyes on the gorgoues aubergine skirt of Saraswati I, I fell head over heels in love. I went along with my girlfriends to register and now I am over excited for Carnival 2012!

K2K Alliance & Partners Inc. was founded by twin sisters, Kathy and Karen Norman on January 1st, 2010. At its core, the Company acts as a medium to explore creative work, specifically Carnival “mas” design. K2K embraces artists, performers and craftspeople that share our dream that the mas-man is a storyteller and the masquerader is the actor who brings the story to life.

 You can read more about K2K here.

What Devon Matthews Do?

I want to know what it is Devon Matthews do to the Soca Bigwigs. Seriously.

For Carnival 2012, Devon Matthews has SEVEN soca songs that I know about. And of that seven, I like about six nd a half of them. But yet, Devon nowhere to be seen in the list of semi-finalists of the Groovy or Power Soca Monarch competition.

What happened?
He didn't enter?
He choose the wrong songs?
The Soca Monarch people have something against him?
He didn't pay his mafia dues?
What going on?

And what makes it even more perplexing to me, if the fact that I seeing names like...Lima Calbio? Gary Cornder? Prestan Andries? Who are they? What they singing? Now I'm not hating and saying they don't deserve to be there eh, well maybe I am, but if they there, Devon could more than be there. That's all I'm saying.

For those of you who do not know who Devon Matthews is or what he singing, take a listen to the songs posted below and tell me if you haven't heard them on the radio and/or found yourself singing along to them and/or if you won;t be jamming on the road to them when they get played.

Devon boy, send me an email and tell me what you do them nah. I promise I won't tell anybody.

Bottle

Push It

Take It Off

Gimme De Wine

Roll

All Night

Jam On De Pavement

P.S. Devon Matthews is not my family or friend, I have never even met the man. I just think he is an artist who has consistently produced good work and has been overlooked time and time again.

Yeah! - The 10 point (or less) review

Well since allyuh enjoyed the condensed 10point review that last time I figure I'll do a next one.

So at the 99th hour... I ended up with a Hyper Inclusive ticket to Island People's Yeah! at O2 Park. (Remember I said I wasn't going anywhere else for the rest of the season right?). Chanting my usual mantra of "But I have NOTHING to wear!" I headed to Yufe's Saturday morning, channelled my inner Anya and created a fab mini dress a mere two hours before the fete! And hear nah...de dress look pretty decent if I do say so myself and I do *pats self on back*

This was another fete that I decided not to walk with my camera. But this time though, it was because I couldn't find the cable for my camera to transfer my pics and the camera have no more room.

Okay, here's the 10 point review.

1. Layout
I can only speak for the layout in the Hyper Inclusive as I did not venture in the Inclusive side of the fete. The layout was good. My only observation was the main bar on the slope could be dangerous if navigating with heels and some drinks in yuh head. The elevated sponsor area gave a great view of the stage and the crowd.

2. Food
I had a plate (or two, maybe three, I wasn't counting) of the sushi and that was really good. Best dish of the night. I also tried Flair Restaurant's beef, with the pineapple salsa...yummy! I also did take a taste of the stewed oxtail from Mango's and that was tasty as well.

3. Drink
Now I am not a drinker by any means. My usual fete drink of choice is Coke on the rocks, I MAY have the occasional vodka and orange juice or Bailey's and das about it. However, the people at Fair Restaurant inveigled me into trying a drink of theirs called "Canal Water". I ended up having about 6 of those sample cups of canal water. Hear nah...dat was the best drink of the night oui!

4. Performances
Denise Belfon - a bit tedious.

JW and Blaze - I love me some JW and Blaze, and to me they brought the low key vibe up a few notches. (JW and Blaze ah waiting for the Power Soca song...allyuh stickin! )

Kes the Band -  Enjoyed his performance from start to finish! He has a great repertoire this year, he sang my favorite song from him this year "Stress Away", but all of his songs got a reaction from the crowd.

Swappi -  I love love love Swappi! He sang the tune that brings out my inner jammette, Bubble on a DJ, as well as 4D Gyal and Bucket. I love them ALL!

Machel Montano - I think Machel could give his girls a rest and bring back the Powerpuff girls yes. His dancers did give their usual energetic performance though. Machel seems intent on pushing "Pump Yuh Flag" for Road March, for me though...it kinda meh. I am certainly not feeling it. Machel I think you should go with Revelling as your Road March pic.

Patrice to me was underwhelming, loved her catsuit, did not like her dancers though...I could do without them. And was it just me or did Patrice forget the words to "I Am Soca"?

Enjoyed Farmer Nappy's performance.

5. Crowd - The crowd was REAL low key for the most part. Especially when it came to the newer songs, it seems to me that they were unfamiliar as they were more responsive to songs from previous years. The vibes were me and my crew were liming was real hype though. We had a time.

6. Bathrooms - Up to now I eh find the Hyper Inclusive bathrooms eh IP. The cleaning staff  send meh ALL OVER de place. I ended up using the facilities in the Inclusive area and that was up to par.

Other than a small incident with one of the security guards, I enjoyed this fete, and overall I would give this fete 4 wine out of 5.

Soca in Moka 13 - The 10point review

Who: Soca in Moka
What: All-Inclusive
Where: Trinity College, Moka. Maraval
When: Sunday 8th January 2012
Cost: $600 (last year $550)


I told Saucy that I wasn't going to be doing any review this year yuh know. I went to Moka with my two hand swinging...no camera, no Blackberry, nothing, which I thought was a good idea given all the rain and thing. But wouldn't you know it...this would be the year Moka made some changes to their layout...Steups.

Anyhoo...I still don't really feel like doing a full review, so here is Soca in Moka in 10 points (or less) :

1. Layout - The most popular food has always been the Chinese food, this year that booth was elevated (dem stairs was lil rickety eh Moka fix dat nah) and was under two tents this year. That did not make the lines any shorter. Line. for. days!

Uncle Max booth was also elevated, not that he was in there for any length of time, cause he's a man like to be in the middle of the crowd with his security jostling paying patrons.

2. Roy Cape - Blaxx cut his ras and say he was going to talk less, but didn't, they now have Ricardo Dru on the frontline, he wasn't too bad and Rita Jones is an even bigger dragalicious mess than she was last year. (Matter of fact that's an insult to the drag queens I've seen yes. My apologies queens!) She needs an intervention ASAP! Somebody...anybody...PLEASE HELP HER! Yes Roy Cape, ah glad allyuh realise people wasn't feeling allyuh non-soca set and allyuh went back to the soca.

3. Kerwin Du Bois - Bachannalist. Big Tune. My choice for Groovy Soca Monarch HANDS DOWN! (Sorry Mr. Fete, but I'm a bachannalist to meh heart, just read de blog to see why)

4. Dil-E-Nadan - *yawn* unimpressed for a second or is it third (?) year running. The best part of DEN's performance was when Ronnie Mc Intosh came out and mash up de place.

5. Ronnie Mc Intosh - Yes, his performance was so good he get his own bullet point here! Ronnie performed  How It Go Look, Ent and On The Road in his trademark fedora and a white track suit and MASH UP DE PLACE! Like it was 1998 all over again oui! From front to back and all the side of the fete was jumping up with dey umbrellas in the air. Well done Ronnie!

6. Rain - This was the first year EVER in my 12 years of going to this fete that rain fell. When we got the fete around 5:45pm, the place was good empty eh. So I say well yes, people eh coming this year ah go have room to move. Eh heh? Well look how by 8:00pm place pack like is nobody business, people come with dey umbrellas to the fete (not me eh) and jamming, jumping and wininig with dey umbrella in hand. I party in  de rain and dat made the fete even sweeter for me. Mind you on Monday I reach to work feeling lil sniffly and real mash up eh.

So das it really, Soca in Moka in 10 points or less. My low point for the night was losing a gorgeous bling ring my mom bought me for Christmas :( I took it off in the Andy Loos to wash my hands and forgot it by the sink, time I realised and went back, some bandit done ninja the damn ring. Bastards.

Soca in Moka is the only fete I have planned/budgeted to go to. If anything else drop in my lap though *hint hint* I'll be ready and more than willing to go!

(Photo: Triniscene.com)