62 vie for Soca Monarch Final

The semifinals of the 2020 International Soca Monarch got off to a brisk start at Arima Velodrome yesterday. Starting promptly at 4 pm, patrons were still trickling into the venue while the first two performers in the groovy category, Mr Famous and Hey Choppi, were performing their songs No HIV and Captain, respectively.

Before Jerome 'Rome' Precilla was able to take the stage as the evening's third performer, a technical difficulty delayed his performance for over 20 minutes.

Skinny Banton took the Groovy stage as the evening's fourth performer and delivered a rendition of Wrong Again, one of the popular releases for this Carnival season. During Benton's performance he made a plea for people to stop the cycle of domestic violence and walk away from failed relationships peacefully.

Waiting backstage for his performance later on in the evening Blaxx said, while he was confident, he was most looking forward to delivering a good performance.

Speaking after his performance of IOU, Asten Isaac said, "The performance was exceptional and I had a good time. I feel very good and vocally I delivered." I

saac is hopeful he has secured a spot in the finals on Fantastic Friday.

By 7 pm, 24 out of the 32 contestants in the groovy category had performed. Thirty more were expected to perform in the power category later on in the evening.