If her song is anything to go by, Trini women had better watch out; local calypsonians too. Lady Karen otherwise known as Karen Bennett is aiming to blow away the competition in this year’s Calypso Monarch contest.

Karen Bennett

A song entitled “Cries of a Trinidadian” is her weapon. According to the artiste, the composition is based on Guyanese women having a “tendency” to attract the attention of men by virtue of their good looks. She claims that Trinidadian men like Guyanese women a lot and when the local women go to that country “the men does be in trouble with the women… so the Trinidadian women is asking us to don’t tek their man”.

The first verse somehow does not give that impression of men-grabbing; it seems to be more about immigration troubles. It goes:

‘To think it’s very sad

In the eyes of Trinidad

When we touch down

In dem country

Them search we bag

And tek all we have

Stripping us of our dignity

Big trouble now in the West Indies

Whenever them hear we is Guyanese’

Nope, no grabbing in that verse! Lady Karen, who was the only woman to reach the Calypso finals last year, told The Scene that she is hoping to do the same again this year and is praying for this.

While she hasn’t heard all of her competitors’ songs to compare them to hers, she is still confident that she could reach the peak of the competition.

The erstwhile Shanto Queen can be a hard nut to crack. She bashfully says that her reaching the finals “depends on one person”.

Okay, who? She refuses to say but wants that statement to be published.

The Lady also sings in bands and karaoke “to keep my voice intact”. She has entered the competition four times in the past and as previously mentioned, was in the finals last year.