Mr Mack is back, after falling off stage at Naparima Bowl

Mr Mack is back.

The calypsonian, whose real name is Victor Mc Donald, returned to the stage of the Naparima Bowl on February 14, as a guest, when the cast of Kaiso Showkase performed before the judges for one of the 40 spots in the Calypso Fiesta semifinal at Skinner Park, San Fernando, on February 22.

On January 24, the opening night of the tent, Mr Mack fell off the stage in the amphitheatre section of the bowl while performing his humorous calypso We Don't Eat Pets.

Judging took place in the bowl's auditorium. Seven members of the Kaiso Showkase cast, along with a reserve, have been selected to compete for a place in the National Calypso Monarch finals.

While grateful for surviving the four-foot fall from the stage, Mr Mack is unhappy he was denied an opportunity to perform for the judges and ultimately land a place in the calypso finals.

“I am a guest artiste, not a contender.”

Mr Mack made it clear to Newsday that it was not injuries from the fall which prematurely ended his 2025 season.

The fall left him with eight stitches to the head, a broken thumb and cuts and bruises, but his resilience allowed him to get back on the stage.

He said it was the calypso regulations for entry into the competition and removal of categories that stopped him in his tracks. He explained that as he lives in the US, he could not get to Trinidad in time to register for the competition.

He called for a review of the rules, which he says stipulate the entrant must be present to physically sign a document.

“You cannot designate anyone else to act on your behalf. I find that is very unfair.

“So I came home a few days after registration closed. Long time, you could have registered on the day the judges were appearing and get through. Now it is no longer so.

“TUCO has also done away with categories, including the humorous calypso category, which is my speciality,” he also vented, calling for a return of the categories.

Calls to president of the Trinbago Unified Calypso Organisation (TUCO) Ainsley King went unanswered. His vice president, Steve “Ras Kommanda” Pascall, told Newsday on February 17 Mr Mack may have been misled.

“That is not so.”

Kommanda said there are allowances for a properly authorised representative to register an entrant.

“I don't have a rule book before me, but you could send a representative. I vex, you know. I am the vice president of TUCO and chairman of the South/Central Region of TUCO, and I have to be hearing about this from the media.

“He is a member. We have forums for this. He could come in and raise the issues.”

To Mr Mack's call for the return of the categories. Kommanda said there is no consideration, as far as he is aware, of bringing them back.

“Let me tell you something: the president Ainsley King, inherited a lot of financial problems. That is what he is concentrating on right now, to make TUCO's name good. He is trying to pay off debt.

"So we are not concentrating too much on this prize, prize thing. We trying to pay off debts so at the end of the day, we don't owe nobody, and our credibility is intact.”

On the selection of seven members of his cast and a reserve, Kommanda said it is gratifying to know the tent organisers are finally getting the numbers they were looking at.

“It is always good to know the organisation you are running could be successful and is doing meaningful work.”

He said he was looking for around ten of them to make it to Skinner Park, “but the judges' decision is final.”

Some 25 calypsonians competed on Valentine's night, which also serenaded the ladies. A minute's silence was observed for former TUCO secretary and stage manager Cheryl Ann Joseph and Garvin Joseph, who both died in the past year.

Politics, social commentary and humour dominated, with Marcus Seepersad, known as Reece, kick-starting the competition on a high note. He set the bar with his 2025 offering Doh Live So, in which he advocated spreading unity, togetherness and love.

Kevan Calliste, the grandson of late calypso icon Black Stalin, ended the competition with a tribute to his grandfather, Still Feeling to Party, singing to a colourful portrait of the late singer.
In between, solid contributions came from Anthony Charles, known as De Juba, with a melodious social commentary on crime, with elements of humour, as he sang, Ah Cyah Function, in which he expressed fear of being robbed of his pension by young criminals.

Solid performances also came from Marsha Clifton (Lady Adanna), one of the semifinalists, who sang a strong tongue-in-cheek social commentary, I Apologise, while not really doing apologising, but listing the ills plaguing society and her determination as a griot not to fall for the dictates of those who wanted to determine her lyrical content.

The pregnant Curlissa Charles-Mapp, another semifinalist, had the audience on the edge as she danced and pranced onstage to demonstrate the power of her contribution, The Original Superwomen.

When it came to the criteria for selection, melody, lyrics, rendition, presentation and originality, Ephraim Ramkissoon, known as Brother Ramkee, seem to have had them all, judging from the reaction of the audience to his The Bye and Bye. So too Tameika Darius, with her Song of Hope.

Unfortunately, neither impressed the judges.

Tameika's biting commentary to the judges, to adjudicate her fairly, in her last verse, may have cost her a spot in the Fiesta.

While commending those selected for the semifinals, Kommanda reminded fellow artistes and others, “It is a subjective art form. The judges' decision is final.

“Instead of spewing hate, there are forums to check scores against other scores. We have a review committee to review the scores on behalf of members.

"I want to encourage members to read the handbook and understand the rules,” he said.