Voting opens for People's Choice Road March

It is usually masqueraders on Carnival Monday and Tuesday whose penchant for a particular song to cross the stage that would have determined the Road March.

But this year, like with all things, it has been pushed online.

Those interested in casting their vote for the online Road March can do so now by texting.

Voting for the Bmobile/ Trinbago Unified Calypsonians’ Organisation (TUCO) People’s Choice Road March began on February 5 because of an extended registration period. It was originally scheduled to begin on February 1.

People can vote locally and internationally by texting the artiste's code to 7684 and international numbers can text their code to 1-868-798-2661. A media release said voting for the competition is open until 11.59 pm on February 16, with votes being accepted from both Bmobile and Digicel platforms and international mobile numbers.

People can vote as many times as they like, with local texts costing $2 per message.

This new online version of the traditional Road March competition has led to a larger number of songs and artistes for consideration and some new sounds for the genre too, the release said.

There were 16 artistes and 21 songs vying for the top prize of $100,000. Farmer Nappy, Trinidad Ghost, Aaron Duncan, MX Prime, Ola, Machel Montano, Bunji Garlin, Fay Ann Lyons-Alvarez and Iwer and KMC are among the entrants.

The competition was launched in January.

“This year, the online approach has given new life to the decades-old competition.

In previous years, of the thousands of songs created here and abroad for Road March or the Carnival season, very few actually rose to the top of DJ and music truck playlists to be considered.

“While the songs traditionally take time to trend across fetes, house limes and radio dials, this year, the entrants have been leveraging their fanbases across social media to introduce songs that aren't your typical Road March entry,” the release said.

Ola said in the release that he was excited about the new approach and thinks that this route is more fair and equitable.

“Most of the time, radio play determines what is played on the road by music trucks for the days of Carnival. And then judges at key points tally. But this year it is the public — the fans of soca and music – that get to decide," he said.

Farmer Nappy said it was a historical Road March this year and this was exactly what was needed to still allow people to create and share great music for fans. His popular Backyard Jam has been in heavy rotation on the airwaves.

Aaron Duncan added, "I am happy that this is happening as it gives everyone a fair chance with the voting by everyone here and across the world. This really gives so many more artistes a chance to share the music and to shine and doesn't limit the Road March to the choice of DJs on the music trucks."

TSTT's general manager, Shared Services Gerard Cooper is pleased with the feedback from the artistes and soca fraternity.

"Over the years, our approach to Carnival has had to adapt, but it remains a constant for us as a company. We are a home-grown brand, built here in TT and part of our mission is to invest in our people so that they can realise their true and full potential. That means when we see an opportunity to support through our technology using the text-to-vote platform, we are 100 per cent committed," Cooper said.