Dad and daughter, mom and son in Chutney Soca semis

A father and daughter and a mother and son are among 30 contestants selected for the semi-final round of the Chutney Soca Monarch competition.

Neeshan Sultan will come up against his daughter Katelin Sultan for the Chutney Soca Monarch crown. The two-in-one-show will also crown a Queen of Chutney Soca, and Katelin is also seeking to dethrone the reigning queen Ramrajie Prabhoo.

Prabhoo is the mother of Prince Navin Prabhoo. Both are among the semi-finalists for the competition which will also feature collaborations among artistes.

Darrion Narine, who goes by the stage name Theatrics, has teamed up with Nichal Seepersad, known as Trinidad Truth, as well as with Rizaan Ali who performs under the sobriquet Riz.

The shows promoter, Southex CEO George Singh, said collaborations are allowed. Singh said quite a number of new artistes will be featured alongside some old timers who have returned to the competition such as Nigel Gobin and Rick Ramoutar, Neval Chatelal, and two Kenneth’s – funny man Kenneth Supersad, and Kenneth Salick.

Reigning monarch GI will defend his crown against ten of the contestants who will move forward to the finals scheduled to take place at Skinner Park, San Fernando on February 4.

Singh said he is keeping the contenders to a minimum as a special segment of the 2023 event, titled Legends and Icons, will feature some top entertainers from the Caribbean. Six of them from the region will be honoured.

The semi-finals will take place on January 27 at Screamers South Haven, Debe. Doors open at 7 pm and the show will start at 9 pm.

The Chutney Soca Monarch semi-finalists are :

Ricardo Melville – Daddy Chinee

Narindra Raghubir

Rizaan Ali & Darrion Narine – Riz and Theatrics

Kendal Jaggernauth

Stephon Ramberan

Kerron Tyron Williams – Wackerman

Keith Bishop – Keipalo

Shiva Lakhan

Rick Ramoutar

Joanne Gibson – Queen Voice

Camille Alana Ranjitman – Ranji Baby

Neeshan Sultan

Katelin Sultan

Mario Jitman

Kenneth Supersad

Devanand Gattoo

Ramrajie Prabhoo

Edward Ramdass

Vishnu Ramberan – Vee Ram

Ricky Khandoo

O’Neil Bhajman

Kenneth Salick

Prince Navin Prabhoo

Nigel Gobin

Jairam Dindial

Shazeena Ramsumair - Shazzie

Neval Chatelal

Nihchal Seepersad & Darrion Narine – Trinidad Truth & Theatrics

Avinash Sookraj