Sucre named ‘The Greatest’ Youth Soca Champion

Soca artiste Sucre was named the first ever Youth Soca Champion after he beat five other contestants in the junior category of the Ultimate Soca Champion, on February 20, for a $200,000 payday with his song, The Greatest.

An emotional Sucre thanked the almighty, fans, sound producers and all his supporters as he was handed a massive cheque by Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts Randall Mitchell at the Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain.

Expressing his gratitude, he sang one of his verses:

“I tell you this straight/

"Getting on bad is how we does live/

"So if you tell we don’t misbehave/

"I doing it…/

“Tell them when I feting I am the greatest…”

His performance started with a video of himself dressed in red and white with a red Panama hat, staggering on Ariapita Avenue. He jumped into a car and asked the driver to take him to the Savannah.

As the video ended, the car pulled up backstage and he stumbled onto the stage ready to perform.

His performance was tight, with well-choreographed dancers and props.

The second-place winner was Tobago-based Verrse, one of the crowd favourites, with his song, Pump it Up.

Christo took third place with his song, Unity.

The junior and Ultimate performers competed before judges Alison Hinds, Hypa Hoppa, Melissa Jimenez and Just J. The points were tallied by the judges and re-checked by officials at Ernst and Young to ensure there were no discrepancies.

Each performer solicited great reactions from the crowd with people coming in T-shirts in support of their favourite artistes.

“Verrse is our artiste,” said Tobagonian Glen Britton. “Everyone in this crew is supporting him. We aren’t worried about the competition at all. Verrse come to sweep it.”

“I am waiting for Anika Berry,” said Andy St John, a visitor from New Jersey. “She’s got it good. Trust me, she’s got it good.”

Seasoned soca stars shine in Ultimate category

In the Ultimate category, highly anticipated soca artiste Yung Bredda did "the work," but so did everyone else. Seasoned performers such as Blaka Dan, Viking Ding Dong, Nailah Blackman and Orlando Octave wowed the crowd with stellar performances.

Yung Bredda, who performed The Greatest Bend, opened with a video depicting a news story which suggested that he stole the prize money. Several characters, played by Ro’dey, came to his defence, saying he was innocent. Yung Bredda came on the stage in an orange prison suit to be tried for the alleged theft. Famed dancer Luna acted as his attorney, giving a jury the greatest bend for his defence.

By the end of the performance, judges, who were all beautiful dancers, found him innocent and danced while he sang:

“She bubble and she bubble and wine/It is the greatest bend over.”

Blaka Dan was a clear crowd favourite as the audience erupted in a sea of flags and foam-sticks for his performance.

He started his rendition with a clip of a therapy session, where people spoke of breaking up with someone, which they thought was a “tragedy” but later seeing blessings coming to them.

Ro’dey was also part of the intro, playing a woman who had a “heavy” man, but as soon as they broke up, she saw blessings as well.

Blaka Dan brought on a cadre of the region’s cultural blessings including Carnival revellers, moko jumbies and jab jab. He also brought on panmen from the Invaders steelband.

Viking Ding Dong showed the strength of his voice while singing Throw Back, holding powerful notes while dancers and moko jumbies paraded on the stage. He brought on soca legend Lord Nelson who was clad in a gold sequinned jumpsuit.

Lord Nelson, 94, danced along with the revellers on stage while Ding Dong sang.

Orlando Octave surprised patrons with his performance of Auction, opening with a scene of a woman with bruises on her face, kicking out an apparently abusive man, played by himself.

The woman then turned to the camera and warned all women to choose their partners wisely. The video then cut to the Prime Minister as he cautioned women in 2017, saying: “I am not in your bedroom. I am not in your choice of men.”

At the end, Octave leapt off the stage and onto a table with a woman, and two little people being held by supporters and surfed across the crowd to the backstage.

Nailah Blackman, the last of the 11 Ultimate performers showed her international experience, as she graced the stage on a pedestal, opening her song Forever Young while playing a guitar.

Her simple but stellar performance captivated the crowd She also brought on Skinny Fabulous who sang along with her. The original song was sung by the duo.

The 11 contestants will have to wait until Fantastic Friday – February 28 – when the final competition airs on TV to find out the ultimate winner.

The Ultimate Soca Champion, which replaces the Soca Monarch, went with a reality TV-themed format this year, akin to America's Got Talent and X-Factor.

The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts expressed pride in supporting the initiative saying it promotes both the local and regional music industry and in particular, soca.

"The success of the Ultimate Soca Champion competition has exceeded all expectations," said Mitchell in the release.

"Plans are already underway for the 2026 and 2027 editions and we look forward to many more years of celebration, enjoyment, growth and global recognition of our national heritage."

Moko jumbie falls in crowd, injures two

Only one incident put a damper on the night. Two women were hurt after a moko jumbie fell walking through the crowd.

Newsday saw emergency health services making their way through the crowd, toward the two injured women. One was carried to a tent where she was treated her for a few bumps and bruises.

Another woman from Cunupia, whom relatives did not want to name, was placed on a stretcher and carried to an ambulance which took her to hospital.

Medics had to put a neck brace on her as a precaution as they took her for medical treatment.