Ten picked for NDP calypso final

The staging of the New Democratic Party’s (NDP) Calypso Song Competition was a “night to remember” as patrons danced and sang to the tunes which were obviously not in favour of the present administration.

Supporters expressed satisfaction and remarked that the show was worth more than the $10 for entry as they were also entertained by MC’s Lawyer Vynette “Vinny V” Frederick who did her hit song “Vote them out” and veteran comedian/entertainer Lucian “Saluche” Small.{{more}} Saluche, who has not performed locally for some time, came out with “humorous vengeance” with some of his light hearted, but hard hitting jokes based on members of the governing party. One of the punch lines which sent the crowd rolling with laughter and applause was, “You know the Sun comes out in the day and shines bright for everyone to see, but the Star, they only come out night when you have robbers and thieves around.” It was notably a hit with the patrons since the star is the symbol of the ruling Unity Labour Party (ULP) while the Sun refers to founding father of the 30 year old NDP Sir James Mitchell who is also affectionately known as “Son Mitchell.”

But the night belonged to the 16 calypsonians that urged NDP supporters to vote out the ruling government and highlighted their downfalls since being into governance April 1 2001. The 10 finalists are Cecil ‘Little Bit’ Murray-Tsunami, Theodore ‘Tabbit’ Matthews – Corruption, Devon ‘Blogo’ Phillips – Have Mercy, Patrick ‘Pitani Bra’ Dasent – Judgement Day, Douglas ‘Muddy Knights’ Knights – Free at Last, Gosnel ‘GC’ Cupid – Good Governance, Rolamina ‘Singing Rolley’ Matthews, Papa yo lie, Arlene ‘Kijah Gani’ Legair – Stop the Boat, Sunny ‘Sunny Banks’ Young -Truth or Lie, and Wendell ‘Rasta Man-I’ Lewis – Mr. Lynch.

The other participants were Ricardo ‘Bluff” Cupid – Internal Shockwave, George ‘Jah Burke’ Nedd, Mc Leon ‘Big Sam’ Sam -Tell Lie, Gemil ‘G-Wise’ Wiseman -Give NDP a Chance, Elvis ‘Roots Gordon’ Gordon- Hero, and Joseph ‘Isai-Jah’ McKie.

All participants received $300 but up for grabs is a $7,000 cash prize for first place, $3,500 for second place and $2,500 for third place.