GI scores hat-trick at Chutney Soca Monarch competition

GENERAL Imran Beharry (GI) scored a hat-trick on Saturday night when he captured the Chutney Soca Monarch title for the third consecutive time at the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts (SAPA) in San Fernando.

In the two-in-one competition, Ramrajie Prabhoo created some history in the show, now in its 27th year, by winning not only the Chutney Soca Queen segment, but also placing second to GI in the overall competition.

Daddy Chinee (Ricardo Melville), whose appearance on stage was preceded by two moko jumbies and a panman playing the national anthem, all dressed in national colours, placed third with a melodious and energetic performance of Jadoo.

However, prizes are still in abeyance as the show’s promoter, Southex CEO George Singh, said he is still awaiting official communication from the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts.

Singh said the artistes are aware of this, but agreed to compete to pull off one of the better shows in this pandemic season while shows like the International Soca Monarch, and other events usually staged by TUCO, were cancelled.

GI, singing Wha we go Do in the 14th and last position, blazed onto the SAPA stage shortly after midnight with a combination of elaborate costuming, choreographed dances and pyrotechnics.

It is the first time in the show’s history that a woman competitor has placed second. Singing in position number five, Prabhoo’s offering was Baboolal – a double entendre song which told the story about her husband spending the majority of his time looking at cats outside his window, while the house is filled with rats.

Prabhoo wrested the crown from last year’s winner Nisha Ramsook who failed to place either in the top three in the queen category or among the first ten in the overall competition. Ramsook’s 2022 offering was Lion on Stage.

Newcomers to the competition, Shazeena Ramsumir and Raquel John, placed second and third respectively in the queen category.

Singing under the sobriquet “Shazzie”, Ramsumir sang Dholak Man in position nine. She also placed 10th in the main competition. John’s hot offering of Plenty Iron was accompanied by bareback men as part of her presentation.

The final, held before a limited live audience, and streamed live on the Southex YouTube channel, attracted more than 50,000 viewers Singh told Newsday.

The Khalnayak Dance Academy opened the show followed by a well-oiled performance by one of the country’s leading chutney soca artistes Ravi B and his band Karma, featuring Nisha B and Abbyshi.

In a release, Singh said: “In another metric from our YouTube analytics, the show reached more than 155,000 accounts.”

He said this has been the highest viewership of the show over a 12-hour period.

He said, of the annual event he dubbed “the most important Indo-Caribbean event in the world”, artistes left no stone unturned as they each appeared with some of the most elaborate presentations thus far in the history of the show.

“In the Queen of Chutney Soca category, the five female competitors, Ramsook, Prabhoo, Shazzie, John and Nel Ramdass really brought their A-game, and in many instances outshone their male counterparts.

“GI Beharry, who was defending his title, had the most elaborate stage presentation filled with magnificent costuming and dance sequences.”

Most of the artistes used pyrotechnics, moko jumbies and elaborate choreography which caused long delays in their stage appearances. However, co-host Kenneth Supersad, who shared duties with Big Rich, used the lulls to show off his versatility as a singer and comedian.

Some of the guests who make up the satirical Nah News production team also made appearances on a night which was filled with give-aways from sponsors, including a $3,000 shopping spree from Dansteel to a woman in the audience who agreed to do a spontaneous how-to-wine demonstration.

Chutney Soca Monarch

1. GI Beharry

2. Ramrajie Prabhoo

3. Daddy Chinee

4. Ranjeev Ramdeen

5. Kenneth Salick

6. Veejai Ramkissoon

7. Master Saleem

8. Ricky Khandoo

9. Prince Navin Prabhoo

10. Shazzie

Queen of Chutney Soca results

1. Ramrajie Prabhoo,

2. Shazzie

3.Raquel John