O'connor to give up active competition

FORMER monarch Duane O’Connor says he would be bowing out of active competition within the next two years to make way for his son, Duane Jr, who won the Junior Calypso Monarch title last week.

“I have already stated that when I get to the age of 40, which is in the next two years, I will be coming out of competition because my son will be 18 and I would be 40 and I wouldn’t want to compete with my son, really and truly,” he told reporters after the Dimanche Gras show at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain.

Duane Jr performed his winning song, Man of Integrity, at the show.

O’Connor, who placed seventh in Sunday’s final with his social commentary No Front Page, said preparing for competitions was not an easy task.

“So, I really want to step out of competition.”

O’Connor, a headliner at the Kaiso House tent, last week challenged his omission from the final of the competition after learning that a judge in the Calypso Fiesta at Skinner Park, had changed one of his scores in the melody category. He subsequently sought an emergency injunction which was heard in the Port-of-Spain High Court on Sunday.

Justice Ricky Rahim ruled that the Trinbago Unified Calypsonians’ Organisation include O’Connor in the final at the Dimanche Gras. He eventually sang in position 17.

O’Connor, who is studying law, said he was happy with his seventh place finish.

“I thought they might have dropped me somewhere between 15 and 17 and when I hear the emcee’s announce 17, 16, 15, I felt like when I won the monarch in 2012.

“Then I hear them say 10 and meh name eh call. ‘I say, ‘What! Then I hear them say nine and eight. I say, ‘My God, like I upstairs. “I am happy. I cannot tell you how happy I am right now but I am extremely happy.”

He thanked his attorneys, Keith Beckles and Rekha Ramjit, family and friends, for their support over the last few days.

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"O'connor to give up active competition"

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