Junior Calypso Monarch honours Rock Gutter accident victims

An emotional, yet powerful tribute to the victims of the Rock Gutter tragedy earned a student of the North Union Secondary School the title of Junior Calypso Monarch on Tuesday.

Not only was Ishanna “Queen Shanna” Phillips able to secure the title for her school, making this their second consecutive win, but the {{more}}performance of her song, “Rock Gutter” was so powerful that she moved some patrons to tears.

“It’s about the persons who died and the persons who survived. Some of the persons who died were in my class, like Chanstacia and Jamali. Those were the only ones in my class, so people are forgetting about that tragedy, so we decided to make a song about it,” she told reporters, following her crowning.

The 14-year-old highlighted that when the tragedy took place, it was extremely hard for her and her classmates because losing their classmates was like losing two of their family members.

While Phillips stated that it was not difficult to perform her song, tears were evident at some points of her performance.

“I cried a little. I don’t even know. God helped me,” she said, explaining how she was able to perform smoothly at Tuesday’s competition in Victoria Park.

Phillips took the opportunity to thank her music teacher Hank Williams, who wrote the song; her principal, who supported her in her difficult time and her mother, who she said is her source of encouragement.

Second place was awarded to junior calypso veteran, Kristiana “Singing Kristy” Christopher of the Thomas Saunders Secondary School. Her song was entitled “Time longer than Twine.”

Meanwhile, first time competitor Kelisa “Singing Kelly” Barker of the North Union Secondary School placed third with her calypso, “Have Some Faith.”

Other competitors in the Junior Calypso secondary school competition included Brandon “C4” Frederick of the St Vincent Grammar School with “Domestic Violence”, Larissa “Unpredictable Lala” of the Buccament Bay Secondary School with “Listen” and Brianca “Princess B” Matthias of the Girls’ High School with “Selfie.”

Bevorne “Chrystal B” Baptiste and Trevicia “Queen KK” Lavia of the Sandy Bay Secondary School also competed in this year’s competition with their songs, “Who to Blame” and “Aim High” respectively, as well as Giovanni “Super D” Collins of the St Joseph’s Convent Marriaqua, whose song was entitled “Teach me Teacher.”

The Rock Gutter tragedy took place in January this year, when a bus carrying 21 passengers overturned and plunged over a cliff at Rock Gutter, Fancy. This accident claimed the lives of seven students.(BK)