Roberts: Back me for Road March

“Machel made me the woman that I am today.”

So said soca artiste Patrice Roberts, who praised Machel Montano during the PREStige 8 Carnival all-inclusive fete on Sunday at Presentation College in San Fernando.

Both are contenders for Carnival 2018 Road March. In 2006, Roberts and Montano won the title with their song Band of the Year. One of her songs, Sweet Fuh Days, released in December, is receiving heavy airplay. Last Friday, Montano released Soca Kingdom, a collaboration with SuperBlue (Austin Lyons). The song, produced by Travis Hosein, also known as Travis World, is also dominating the local airwaves.

Roberts told fans during her career, Montano had helped her a lot and for that she is grateful.

However, she urged patrons to support her “as a woman for this year’s Road March title.”

D’ All Starz featuring Blaxx, Tizzy, Ricardo Drue and Teddyson John, performed first in the fundraising fete, which started from 5 pm. Before a receptive crowd, the band sang several songs from past to present.

Even before he graced the stage, patrons began singing Kees Dieffenthaller’s popular Hello (Folklore Riddim). Dieffenthaller, an alumnus of the school, showed off some of his wining skills, even taking his shirt off. He sang his hit songs and Like It Like That with Roberts, whom he described as a hard-working artiste.

Jamaican reggae and dancehall artiste Barrington Levy made his first appearance at PREStige and had patrons in awe with his vocal ability. Patrons sang along to Be Strong, Living Dangerously and Too Experience.

Other entertainers included International Soca Monarch Voice, Preedy; Lyrikal and a surprise appearance by Skinny Fabulous of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The Past Students foundation hosted the fete.