First-time winners rule

ON A NIGHT featuring many defending champions, first-time winners were eventually crowned at this year’s Dimanche Gras, setting the stage for a Carnival that has come to be defined by virgin victors.

Ta’zyah O’Connor was crowned the TUCO National Calypso Monarch with the uplifting Hallelujah. At the age of 20, Mr O’Connor is one of the youngest people to ever win this competition. (The Mighty Sparrow was also 20 when he won what was then called the Calypso King competition with his most famous song Jean and Dinah.)

While Mr O’Connor might be a first-time winner, he follows in the footsteps of his father Duane O’Connor, a veteran who won the contest in 2012 with his memorable songs The Hunt is On and Long Live Calypso. Both have made history in turning the monarch title into a family affair.

Also winning crowns for the first time were masqueraders Raymond Mark and Priya Nagassar who took home the King and Queen of Carnival titles. Mr Mark’s victory came after eight years of making it to the finals, for his Mayan-themed portrayal The Feathered Serpent Creature Ku Kul Kan, while Ms Nagassar’s triumph came in only her second appearance, at age 22, in the seniors’ final. Her costume – The Mother of All Carnival Celebrations – was a reflection of the NCC's theme for this year's festival.

But first-time winners also made an impact outside of Dimanche Gras.

Hours after that competition came to an end, Everton Cardinal was crowned the King of J’Ouvert for his portrayal of D Best Way to Stop the Spread of the Virus.

And as the sun rose on Monday, it was clear that Nailah Blackman and Skinny Fabulous’s Come Home was one of the main contenders for Road March. If Ms Blackman secures a victory it will be the first time she has taken home this laurel.

She will have to fend off Bunji Garlin’s Hard Fete. (Incidentally, it would also be Bunji’s first outright win as a solo artist: he won previously in a collaboration.)

Another first-time winner was nine-year-old Katelin Sultan, a first-time competitor who won the Queen of Chutney Soca title. Daddy Chinee was also crowned the 2023 Chutney Soca Monarch, the first time this title has not been won by someone of Indian ancestry.

All eyes should be on the upcoming generation represented by Junior Calypso Monarch Marcus McDonald and Sekel Mc Intosh, who secured a hat-trick as the Junior Soca Monarch, as well as Kai Anthony Salazar and Xhaiden Darius, who were crowned in the San Fernando Junior Calypso Monarch secondary and primary schools’ competitions respectively.

Panorama saw Renegades tie the all-time record of 12 victories, but largely on the strength of an arrangement by Duvone Stewart, one of the younger arrangers now making a name for himself.

If there is one positive from this year’s festival it is the sense that fresh blood has prevailed.