Reigning Carib Soca Monarch Shellon ‘Shelly-G’ Garraway is asking where is her competition for this year’s event since she believes that her tune this year “All That” really is all that and will see her holding on to the coveted title.
Last weekend at the Mackenzie Sports Club (MSC) Ground in Linden, nine contestants booked their tickets for the final which will be held on February 20 at the National Park.
Shelly-G was a no-show in Linden and though it was not mandatory for her to be there, it is customary that the champions would have a look at what they would be up against.
Prior to that, there was much speculation as regards the Soca Monarch’s participation this year but when The Scene caught up with Shelly-G her response was: “Well the last time I checked I was still in the competition, so yeah, I will be taking part”.
She added, “I haven’t really heard anyone yet who I think would give me a real challenge. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that they are not good or anything like that but I don’t think they will defeat me. But, I think Beverly has a good song. I think they say she scored the highest in Linden and then there are the usual people who are normally good.”
Asked if she thinks that her song for this year is better composed and better received publicly than her winning track last year, the mother of one noted, “Well honestly, it hasn’t really been playing as much as the other songs so I can’t say about that yet. But see, when I write a song, I always put a lot into it and I always say to myself that it has that winning tune. But we have a video out for the song now and I’m looking forward to this year’s competition.”
Meanwhile, looking back at the competition last weekend in Linden, the judges certainly did not have much difficulty in selecting this year’s finalists. The three entrants who were eliminated (Jermaine “Cyclone” Bailey, Simeon Sam and Atiola “Attie” Peters) were not on par with the others.
Cyclone who hails from Linden argued that the microphone had failed during his performance on stage. The Scene had an upfront view during his rendition of “Celebration Time” and saw the cable leave the microphone as the Cyclone celebrated.
Simeon wanted “Love Over Hate” but it seemed as though the crowed hated his song and so too did the judges.
Attie sang “Leave Me Alone” and the judges obviously thought that it was only fair for them to grant him the wish.
It was Beverley “Little B” Williams’s “Back Wine Time” that brought the crowd at MSC to its feet as she gyrated and certainly showed that she could “back wine”.
Tomeka Thomas, seven months pregnant, was a crowd favourite when she took the stage to perform “Balloon”.
The groovy soca track “Material Things” by Tiele “Tele Cruz” Thorne is said to be the competition’s hottest track and receives more air play than many other songs but Tele Cruz’s performance in Linden did not live up to the hype.
Jamaica-based Pierre Da Silva certainly sounded “Mad, Mad, Mad” at the MSC ground and didn’t get the reception as expected. Again another good song for the Soca Monarch but stage performance was nothing to shout about.
The ‘B52’ bomber Wilbur Levans went to Linden to “Carry On” and that he did but the crowd preferred to sit. Known for his high energy performances, ‘B52’ just could get the Lindeners to “Carry On” as he wanted but his song is still among the favourites for this year’s Soca Monarch.
His Kross Kolor Records (KKR) colleagues Melissa “Vanilla” Roberts and Orlando “Bonesman” Johashen also made it to the final. 2009 Road March Queen ‘Vanilla’ was at her usual high pitch when she sang “High” while the Berbician ‘Bonesman’ did well in telling the crowd that Mashramani time “Is We Own” and got a great response.
