Juniors impress at Victoria Park

Lots of waving and jumping and laptop raising went down at the Carnival City Victoria Park on Tuesday, June 28, as the youths went head to head in the Junior Calypso and Soca competitions.{{more}}

Otis ‘Flipper’ Cain, last year’s Junior Calypso Monarch in the primary school category, won the Junior Soca competition with his innovative rendition of “Laptop Galore”. Cain, a student of the St. Vincent Grammar School, had the full attention of the crowd as he pranced on stage, with back up dancers proudly holding their laptops from the One Laptop per Child initiative of the Government.

Children in the crowd also responded favourably, waving their laptops in the air when the instruction was given by Cain.

Second place in the Soca category went to Kurtmey “Soca Man” Pompey, of the Sandy Bay Secondary School, who entertained the crowd with an upbeat performance of his song “Soca Warriors,” backed up by energetic dancers dusted white with powder.

Bringing out the animal in the crowd, the petite but powerful Kristina “Singing Kristie” Christopher, of the Layou Government School, placed third with her song “De animal in we.”

Christopher had the pleasure of winning twice, as she also secured the Junior Calypso Monarch title in the Primary Schools category. Christopher performed “Give we back we mind.”

Keneshia “Kacey” Llewellyn emphasized the need for adults to set good examples for youths with her rendition “Plant good seeds,” and secured the second place spot in the Junior Calypso primary school category. The petite Llewellyn from the St. Mary’s Roman Catholic School, wearing a vibrant Hibiscus costume, belted out her message to the attentive audience.

Rounding out the top three in this category was Dalisha “Baby Doll” Williams, of the Park Hill Primary, with her rendition “The Enemy”, which according to her is Peer Pressure, which leads to crime and teenage pregnancy, among other societal ills.

Recapturing the title of the Junior Calypso Monarch in the secondary Schools competition, Shade Barker, of the St. Joseph’s Convent Kingstown, got the judges nod with her song ‘Love the children’, which called for an end Child Abuse. Fellow student and competitor Gillian “Gaffe” Smart took second place with the rendition “Who nar hear”, while Amunik “Nicky” Martin, of the Bethel High School, took the third position with her song “I want to see,” which emphasized the need for unity in the country.

Patrons were also entertained by guest artises Bomani and Skarpyon who had the undivided attention of the youths as they jumped along to songs performed by the artistes, their dancing unhindered by the intermittent rains.

TNT’s Extempo Monarch Sheldon John also peformed with Blakie, a humourous segment which had the crowd laughing and cheering.

The Winners of the competition each received a round trip to any destination in the Caribbean from LIAT, the Caribbean Airline, while Courts SVG Ltd. awarded the winning schools with computers.