Katelin Sultan, 8, youngest finalist in Chutney Soca competition

EIGHT-year-old Katelin Sultan has wrested the title from calypso and soca icon Machel Montano by becoming the youngest artiste to make the finals of a major national competition.

With song reminiscent of Montano’s debut at the Calypso Monarch finals when he was just 11 and sang Too Young to Soca, Sultan delivered an outstanding performance with Tell Dem Ah Ready to earn a place in the finals of the 2023 Chutney Soca Monarch competition.

Her delivery, stage presence, diction, melody and lyrics, in her debut year, eclipsed that of more seasoned competitors, including her dad, Neeshan Sultan, who failed to advance beyond the semi-finals, held at Screamers South Haven, Debe on Friday night.

The youngest ever competitor to qualify for the semi-finals and finals, Katelin sang a Visham Mohammed composition, produced by Maha Studios.

“Don’t tell me ah too young for chutney

Don’t tell me ah too young to make yuh shake your waist

Don’t tell me ah too young to party

Don’t tell me ah too young to mash up the place,” she sang.

The audience which packed the venue for the first physical chutney soca competition in two years, cheered the youngster, who is seeking to win her first chutney soca crown.

She is also going after the 2023 Queen of Chutney Soca title which seasoned competitor Ramrajie Prabhoo currently holds.

Chutney soca fans also showed love for Prabhoo and the other female competitors, as well as Ricardo Melville, aka Daddy Chinee, who topped the semi-final round with We are One, and Kenneth Seepersad who was a close second with his performance of Moonilal.

Daddy Chinee is a member of the 2023 Kaiso Showkase calypso tent cast.

Southex CEO George Singh, promoter of the competition, said the 13 artistes, inclusive of GI Beharry, who is defending his title, will now be going for glory on a new date at Skinner Park.

“GI Beharry is also trying to create history by being the only artiste to score a beaver trick at Chutney Soca Monarch.”

Singh said the grand finale, originally scheduled for February 4, has been pushed back to Fantastic Friday – February 17, at Skinner Park due to incomplete renovation works.

“This move is to accommodate the ongoing work and completion of the newly renovated Skinner Park venue.”

The event he said, will be free to the public and will feature top entertainers from the Caribbean in a special feature Legends and Icon.

In this segment, six artistes from the Caribbean region will be honoured and will also feature performances from some of the icons of the Indo-Caribbean music industry.

2023 Chutney Soca finalists:

Kendall Jaggernauth

Nari Raghubir

Kenneth Supersad

Jairam Dindial

Ricardo Melville

Avinash Sookraj/Nigel Gobin

Katelin Sultan

Shazzie Ramsumair

Rick Ramoutar

Ramrajie Prabhoo

Edward Ramdass

GI Beharry (defending champion)