London get People’s Choice cheque

WELL DONE: Senior Business Development officer Ivan Thomas, left, presents the People's Choice cheque to winner Brian London while TUCO head Lutalo “Brother Resistance” Masimba looks on at the Queen's Park Oval last Friday.
WELL DONE: Senior Business Development officer Ivan Thomas, left, presents the People's Choice cheque to winner Brian London while TUCO head Lutalo “Brother Resistance” Masimba looks on at the Queen's Park Oval last Friday.

SHORTLY after being presented with the winner’s cheque from Ivan Thomas of FCL Financial Ltd, Brian London told the media: “I feel elated to be named the People’s Choice because we sing for the people and represent the people.

“Coming up under Black Stalin and others, I’ve always been told that calypso is the voice of the people. So to hear the people give back their voice in appreciation to me, I felt very appreciated in Skinner’s Park and I feel even more appreciated now to know the work that I have been doing is given the recognition, not by judges, but by the kaiso lovers in TT.”

London then engaged Contender (Mark John) in an extempo war that those present chuckling for the most part, at the simple ceremony last Friday. Earlier, Trinbago Unified Calypso Organisation (TUCO) president Lutalo Masimba spoke of the importance to up the ante of the Calypso Fiesta product to become world recognised.

He said the event is very important to TUCO hence the reason for establishing two special purpose companies (SPCs), Calypso Fiesta Ltd and Kaisorama Ltd within recent years.

He said: “The events produced by the SPCs are things that should be celebrated, not just by the calypsonians or TUCO, but also as a nation, since emphasis is now being highly placed on the development of the creative industries. We have to make sure we maintain the efficiency and the viability of the SPCs and stay focus on the work we have to do where those two events are concerned.”

Masimba added, at a time where promoters are increasing their visibility and viability, TUCO has to bring its product to a place where TT and wider world can recognise what we are doing.

“We want to go beyond a competition type event though we know competition is part of the landscape. But there must be a way that we could develop the entertainment value of the event to such a high standard that it will become one of the better known events, not only in TT but worldwide.

“We need to take the event forward and we have to look at the question of live streaming and making sure the event is available to the Caribbean diaspora throughout the world. We also have to take a look at merchandising and a number of other things surrounding the event like how we design the venue etc., so that when we unfold Calypso Fiesta it is an event that the whole nation will be proud of.”

With Skinner’s Park, the home of Calypso Fiesta, scheduled for renovations, Masimba said a sight visit was made at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy last week, after which TUCO submitted a request to the relevant authorities for the use of the venue. “It’s looking like the best alternative, in terms of availability of spaces in south because we don’t want to move from the south. South has a special heartbeat.”

The TUCO president also stated: “We have a nation that does not understand, or don’t care to understand the power of Carnival itself, liberating forces that brought us to where we are today.

We are the warriors of the world, we have brought music to make our statement in the world, so we have to finds ways how to take our product and make sure that we can establish new paths forward that is not dependent on government funding.

“I am not saying we are releasing the government from its responsibility, but we must find ways to a path of independence that all calypsonians will be proud of and regardless of how long it takes we must stay focus.”

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