When the Lyons roar

WE CONGRATULATE Terri Lyons on her history-making ascension to the Calypso Monarch throne. Her victory in the competition gives her family the rare distinction of having produced winners of both the Calypso Monarch and Soca Monarch competitions, itself a reminder that the distinction between old and new forms of calypso is, while palpably real, to some extent arbitrary.

Lyons reminded us of calypso’s theatre, bringing the British royal family to life on stage. But in the process, she also paid homage to local calypso royalty: directly replying to the Mighty Sparrow’s Congo Man. And while there are certainly complex nuances surrounding how calypso has handled, interacted with and, at times, manifested racism, Lyons can be credited with reminding us of the art form’s heyday when bards fearlessly tackled complex current affairs with seemingly effortless wit.

She joins Calypso Rose (McCartha Lewis), Singing Sandra (Sandra Des Vignes-Millington), Denyse Plummer, and Karene Asche in the history books of women calypso monarchs.

“I just want to thank my daddy,” Lyons said after winning, referring to her father SuperBlue, himself well entrenched in the firmament of soca royalty. If Lyons is to be congratulated for looking to the past in order to illuminate the present, we also today pay homage to the youthful voices who represent our cultural future.

One of them is the Junior Soca Monarch Sekel Mc Intosh who successfully defended his crown at the Government Campus Plaza auditorium in Port of Spain on Thursday.

He told Newsday afterwards: “This is a win for me, my family and my school Arima Boys’ Government.” Apart from the winner’s trophy, Mc Intosh takes home $12,000 – an increase from last year. Asked what he will do with the money, ten-year-old Sekel showed signs of maturity beyond his age, saying he plans to put it towards tertiary education. This maturity was matched by his own resilience during his performance. He gave a high-energy performance, twice, because he had microphone problems on the first take.

We also hail ten-year-old Avindha Singh for successfully defending his crown on Wednesday in the primary school category of the Schools’ Intellectual National Carnival Chutney Soca Monarch competition. His performance emphasised the need for adults to act as good role models. Out of the mouths of babes.

Also on Wednesday, Brian London retained his National Extempo crown, defeating his cousin NCC chairman Winston “Gypsy” Peters at Kaisorama at the Queen’s Park Savannah. Duelling with Gypsy, London deftly navigated tricky terrain: “If you win, will you take NCC money to pay yourself?” Gypsy’s answer was that TUCO was separate from the NCC, but the point had been delivered and delivered with seeming ease.

All of these winners should bask in their victory. But they must also remember their heavy responsibility when it comes to keeping our culture alive.

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"When the Lyons roar"

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