Nicole: She is my favourite

WHILE Police Commissioner Gary Griffith featured quite prominently in several calypsoes this year, he is shying away from identifying his favourite, or even who he is supporting for the National Calypso Monarch competition on Thursday. But his wife Nicole Dyer-Griffith, who has been personified by finalist Maria Bhola-La Caille in her song False Alarm, is certain about where her vote would go if she had a say.

“Well, if you’re singing about me, of course you’ll be my favourite,” she told Newsday when contacted by phone today.

“I thought it was a very well-crafted song, and I think it will do well in the competition. One of the things of being in the public domain is that you have to expect certain things. I wish her well.” In the song, Bhola- La Caille (Dyer-Griffith) was lamenting that she was being blamed for a public panic when he husband had to seek medical attention, but it turned out he was just feeling the symptoms of stomach gas, curable by orange-peel tea.

“'But Nicole, it’s you to scold, the situation was in your control; As he wife, girl you making joke. You ain’t give him something before he leave for work.’”

Griffith, who was at the Calypso Fiesta at Skinner Park on Saturday, was asked how he felt about being mentioned in so many calypsoes. He said: "Well, I think there’s a great expectation and trust that I feel at this time."

Aiming to fulfil that trust and expectation, Griffith said he wants to restore hope in the population and give citizens a degree of security in their daily lives. “I’m very humbled by it and intend not to disappoint them.”

Asked if he favoured any of the competitors, Griffith replied: “I’ve no intention to make any comment that may cause any degree of perceived bias when they go into the judging. One of the songs however that was most interesting was False Alarm. She was actually hinting my wife was responsible for my demise when my body crashed.”

He praised Bhola-La Caille's outfit. “I hope it wasn’t a ‘buy one, get one free’, as what she wore was almost identical to what my wife wore at the Independence Day parade last year.”

Brian London hailed Griffith in “Who To Call”, Michael “Sugar Aloes” Osuna sang Super G, while Heather Mc Intosh, offered Take Over.”

Dyer-Griffith was asked about her views on the adulation of her husband by the calypsonians.

“With this (his appointment) comes a huge amount of responsibility and expectation. So, I am always the one, along with our son and the rest of the family, to measure the expectation, to ensure there is a platform of stability and realism in all of this.”