Two kings crowned in San Fernando Junior Calypso competition

TWO new young kings of calypso were crowned in the San Fernando Junior Calypso Monarch secondary and primary schools competition, on Wednesday.

Kai Anthony Salazar sang his way into the hearts of the judges and the audience at San Fernando City Auditorium on Wednesday to win and retain the Junior Calypso Monarch in the secondary schools category.

In the primary school category, six-year-old Xhaiden Darius, the son of the reigning NWAC Calypso Queen 2023, Tameika Darius, topped the list of performers.

There was disappointment as the competition ended without the winners being announced without any explanation. A former judge said this was the first time in the history of the competition, no results were announced immediately after.

Teachers were also disappointed that the students, accompanied by supporters from their respective schools, were denied their moment to bask in the euphoria with the media present to capture it.

At first, the audience was told the results would be announced on Thursday. Hours after the competition, however, the results were sent to the media.

Long before the announcement of the winners were made, six-year-old Xhaiden Darius told the Newsday he was confident he was going to win the competition. His mother hugged him, expressing her pride in him following in her footsteps.

Both Salazar and Darius won the competitions with calypsos penned by Brian London.

Salazar, a student of St Benedict’s College, La Romaine, also placed sixth in the recently held TUCO National Junior Calypso Monarch 2023.

Delivering a song titled My Future Plans, he gave an outstanding performance with clear tone and diction, his song about wanting to be, when he grows up, a good father and a good son.

In his final verse, he sang that his future plan was winning the competition and that he did.

Salazar was one of the few competitors to fully utilise the entire stage and had the audience singing along to his catchy chorus even though many in the audience were hearing it for the first time.

Also making full use of the stage was Jimecya Burnette of Cedros Secondary Schoool, who placed second in the competition with a song which told the saga of a young orphaned boy named Lester, who fell into life of crime, but was transformed when playing the steelpan for Carnival.

All year, she sang, he was like a menace, but if you see Lester for Carnival, you would not know he was a criminal. She described Lester as a magician on the tenor pan, singing he was so happy to play, he wished he could do it all year.

Keshawn Gomez of Presentation College, San Fernando, struck a sensitive note with the judges as he gave sound advice to his peers and others about the dangers of smoking in his delivery of Somebody/Anybody.

In the primary school category, Azariah Franklin placed second, with Emma Roberts coming in third position.