Surprisingly, a show billed as a gift to the nation, was not televised over the Internet! C TV had the show live in Trinidad but citizens living abroad had to settle for an audio feed. The show moved along quickly with excellent audio from the singers but the music from the band did not seem to compliment the singers at times. This was the only weak point of the show but a very important feature that tainted some of the performances (at least from the Internet feed I was listening).
WACK Radio provided the audio feed and commentaries during the show. I was in the WACK Radio 'shout-box' chatting with friends and getting feedback regarding the performances. Most of those who ventured to give an opinion were not sure who should be crowned winner. However, Chucky had a very good performance (sweetest singing tonight) along with King Luta and the reigning Calypso Monarch Duane O'Connor. One must mention the performance by Karene Asche who sang a song titled Cascadoo. Some felt it was not a nation building song but she sang with conviction and much passion.
Picking a winner in a competition where the performances very good is a difficult problem for the judges and will always be subject to criticism. However, I was surprised to hear the head judge struggle to answer a question posed by Mr. Kenny Phillips of Wack Radio regarding the performance of the band backing the singers. He did not really answer the question and appeared like he was caught with his pants down... he danced until he managed to put some words together struggling to get out of the situation. In the end the problem remains... the music supporting the artists was not consistent and the performances of some artists were affected because of this perceived problem with the music. This is a one time deal not a hit or miss situation... that was the result because of the inconsistency of the band of musicians that provided the music for this competition!
Most of the writing above was done prior to the announcement of the results. I decided to leave it that way to show how I felt while the show was going on. I only added the name of the winner in the opening paragraph. I did not pick a winner but at least I had "Chucky" as a legitimate contender when I said he had a 'very good performance' (sweetest singing tonight)! Chucky took home the first prize of TT$500K while Michelle Henry received TT$250K and the third place contestant, Karen Eccles-Thomas, walked away with $150.00. Everyone else in the competition received TT$50K as a participant in the competition.
Most of the writing above was done prior to the announcement of the results. I decided to leave it that way to show how I felt while the show was going on. I only added the name of the winner in the opening paragraph. I did not pick a winner but at least I had "Chucky" as a legitimate contender when I said he had a 'very good performance' (sweetest singing tonight)! Chucky took home the first prize of TT$500K while Michelle Henry received TT$250K and the third place contestant, Karen Eccles-Thomas, walked away with $150.00. Everyone else in the competition received TT$50K as a participant in the competition.
The Results are as follows:
1. "Chucky" (Roderick Gordon) Winner | Lord Brynner Independence Calypso Monarch 2012
Song: Bear With Me | Written by: Roderick "Chucky" Gordon and Larry Harewood | Prize: TT$500K
02. Michelle Henry | Song: Our National Watchwords | Prize: TT$250K
03. Karen Eccles-Thomas | Song: Give, I Will Recripocate | Prize: TT$150K
The following participants received TT$50K
The following participants received TT$50K
04. Heather McIntosh
05. Kizzy Ruiz
06. Karene Asche
07. Michael "Sugar Aloes" Osuna
08. Singing Sandra
09. Duane O'Connor
10. Morel Peters aka King Luta