Terri Lyons, Karene Asche are queens among queens in Montserrat

Trinidad and Tobago’s entertainment industry has yet another reason to celebrate. Terri Lyons and Karene Asche were crowned first and second-place winners in the Regional Queen of Queens Female Calypso competition held in Montserrat on December 30.

The mountainous Leeward Island's carnival is held in December and consists of a number of events including that competition.

The Trinbago Unified Calypsonians’ Organisation (TUCO) congratulated the winners, saying, “Congratulations to our very own Terri Lyons on winning the Regional Queen of Queens Monarch title and Karene Asche on placing second. Both titles have been taken by TT and we are extremely proud.”

Lyons won with 1,268 points and Asche placed second with 1,246 points. There were nine finalists in the competition.

Lyons completed a hat trick, placing first consecutively for three years. She won with her 2017 single, The Phrase and a new single called Ask Yuh Man.

Fellow calypsonian Maria Bhola wrote the latter and it addresses how women speak to each other in the face of infidelity.

She won US$5,000, two trophies and a crown.

Asche also won the title twice before and also got the second place title twice as well. They are both former national calypso monarchs.

In a phone interview on December 31, Lyons said this win set a good tone for Carnival 2025 and took her further along the path of constructing her legacy.

“In everything we do, we always try to build a legacy. I am happy that I am in a place where I can do that on my own.

“Yes, the Lyons name is still there but I am just happy to know that I can still do this and it is something my son could look back on,” she said.

Lyons believes she is a part of a new generation of singers re-energising the calypso genre.

“I am a person, I don’t always sing about politics, even though that is part of calypso and we won’t erase that from it, calypso is the people’s papers and you are the person to speak for the ground.

“You are also the person to make them laugh in times when things are tough,” she said.

She tries to bring a new sound, a new performing style and a different perspective on how calypso is to be presented and hopes this attracts younger people.

Her achievement was not only a personal one but a nation-wide accomplishment.

She is yet to be attached to a tent but hopes to find one when she returns.

“Some of us had to open doors, some of us will be there to walk through it and some of us will be there to accept the Grammy but all of us have to work together for it to get where it needs to be,” she said of her hopes for the industry in the new year.

Asche’s second place was like getting the winning title, she said in a phone interview on Tuesday. Both her and Lyons were flying TT’s flag high as women, she said.

Like Lyons, Asche said this was a great way to start 2025.

These achievements motivate her and she applauded all nine contestants, who, she said, brought their A-games.

Asche sang 2024’s No Excuse and a 2017 song called Competition.

She wished TT great things and blessings for 2025.