Articles - Carnival

   Internet voting is on and popping for the Miss Universe competition and will be open until Sunday, September 11, 2011 at 6pm ET. Participants will be limited to ten votes per email address per day. The sole means of voting is via the Internet.
St Lucians can vote for Joy Ann to win People’s Choice, allowing her to advance to the top 15. All you have to do is visit abc.com or missuniverse.com. Everyone has up to 10 votes per day, per e-mail address.
“They arranged it in a way that even the smaller countries are going to benefit from it this year so we’ll be fine, just do your part,” Joy Ann told the STAR. “It may sound cliché, but I know that unity is strength, I can’t do it on my own! Fans can also check out my Facebook fan page.”
Joy Ann’s popularity has already begun building on the Internet and comments like, “I really like Miss St Lucia, a spontaneous beauty and perhaps a serious contender for Miss Congeniality this year!” and “A black beauty that may surprise us all” tell of the positive impression the St Lucian contestant has already set on people from all over the world.
“I find her pretty. I hope she will have enough fierceness and hotness come competition time,” wrote another online blogger. “I wish this girl the best. One of the best black candidates this year in my opinion.”
Little do they know about our fiery and super bubbly Joy Ann, otherwise they wouldn’t bother questioning whether she has what it takes. Joy Ann is presently in São Paulo, Brazil getting set for the pageant on September 12. We wish her all the best. Log on and vote now!

   According to theology Lucifer is a fallen angel who was the head of the ministry of music in Heaven when he dwelled there. It has been said he was the most beautiful of all angels and he was formerly the director of the flow of music (Praise and Worship). In reference to his fall Isa.14:11 says: “Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.”
That music has the power to evoke any emotion is undeniable. And the fact that over zealous fans look to the words of their favourite singer as “Gospel” is also an undeniable truth. The power of music and the connection to the degradation in society is something that I have written about for years. Whatever the music genre Hip Hop, Dancehall or Soca, I have had a take on its effects and trends, commenting on the subject several times over as a panelist on various shows as well.
The last article I wrote in this regard was about the issue of the refusal by the authorities in our saintly isle to allow Vybz Kartel a work permit to perform at a concert here, citing his lewd lyrical content. The crux of my article dealt with the fact that lewd behaviour, profanity, lasciviousness and the denigrating of women seems permissible in public when it suits us and is sometimes even allowed at public functions sponsored by tax-payers. In the second paragraph of the said article I wrote; “I cannot come to grips with the notion of Saint Lucia being a Christian society with morals and all when there is such a high level of decadence, civil disobedience and every sign of the ills of Sodom and Gomorra taking place in plain view and on a daily basis. Most of it is against the law, but we seem to concern ourselves only with violent crime, when the ills of open air drug sales and marijuana consumption, sale of alcohol to minors and the sexual abuse of our minors and women go unchecked and unabated.”
Selective moralistic finger pointing grows even stronger at carnival time and over the past few weeks I have had to sit in church on a Sunday and endure different levels of carnival condemnation and open rebuke, even while some profiting from increase revenue due to carnival advertising and sales, grace the front rows shouting “amen pastor.” However, truth be told, this carnival season in particular, has given me more than enough reason to sometimes reluctantly back the white sepulchers. What with the degradation in lyrical content now so near the bottom of a deep cesspit?
Recently the police commissioner Vernon Francois has been heard talking tough on law breakers this carnival season, with the police even going as far as arresting Soca singer Nicole David during the annual line jam last month for using profanity. It was an issue I raised two years ago with Francois on an RSL carnival program “All tings carnival.” There, I questioned him on the sale of alcohol to minors, minors being allowed in some of the major carnival bands unaccompanied and consuming alcohol and the whole question of lewd behaviour and explicit lyrics by entertainers in public, which was fast becoming the norm. Francois did not seem prepared to make a determination as to how these matters should be addressed according to the law. But like I said, the downward spiral started years ago and with no measures put in place to guard against such decline it has only gotten progressively worse with a free for all to sing “any damn ting” as they say regardless. And, to add insult to injury they are being paid from the taxpayers coffers, whilst on the one hand the Government is paying indirectly for the country to be entertained by these songs and questioning the behavior of our youth and on the other the police who are being paid by the Government now have the added responsibility to monitor things like indecent lyrics and indecent exposure during the Government sponsored mas.
The lyrical content of some of the songs being sung this year raises eyebrows and there seems to be a void of creativity in several of them, particularly the power soca. It would seem that some of the questionable lyrics obtained in dancehall music have simply been transposed onto Soca. This year if the Soca artiste is not singing about how he is “giving it to her” or “riding from de back,” he is encouraging listeners to “mash up any ting”, “break down de bar,” “do a mad ting” and so on and so forth. Check out some song titles alone if they are anything to go by; “Mash it up,” “Flatten It, “No Behaviour,” “Mad Man,” “Soca Riot,” and “More Mash Up.” And you don’t have to wait to hear them explain this behaviour; the response comes in song; “head mad, gone, sick no good” or “is de rum, rum, rum.”
On Wednesday July 6, 2011, during the Soca Monarch preliminaries at the National Cultural Centre, it all unfolded chaotically—as inevitably do all destructive forces. The venue was teaming with supporters of various Soca Camps and those who just came to enjoy good soca music. Well on that note, their satisfaction level may not have been very high and it got worse when they had to be subjected to the antics of the rent-a-crowd that some artistes brought with them. The event featured 12 performers in the first half backed by Matrix band, namely Super D, Lady Catcher, GI Joe, Pepper, Sedale, Wynter, General Bakes, T-Girl, Kitty, Damaze, Orion and Black Pearl. The second half backed by TEM band featured the so called big guns namely Superman HD, Ilahman, Lancealot, TJ, Alpha, Platinum George, Mantius and Ricky T. Also performing during this segment were Ambi, Mongstar, Private 6, Exodus, Zionomi, Ashanti, Mubarak, Crocodile and Mysterio.
The first half of the event went by smoothly but was very lukewarm as compared to when the first performer of the second segment Ilahman came on stage doing his song “Vex.” The anticipation heightened for TJ’s “Mash it Up” and the popular “Sit Dong” by Crocodile. But the true wind of change came with a heavy whiff of powder compliments Sir Lancealot’s water powder posse during the performance of his song “Soca Riot.”
Those who did not wish to get wet or white with powder had to give way much to the chagrin of the organizers and patrons who were not part of the presentation. For several minutes after the song was over it took a while for the powder to settle from the atmosphere causing discomfort for some in the audience. But more than that, at the instruction of the performer, his supporters went outside the cultural centre tearing down banners of Digicel and Bounty Rum, to take back inside the venue. Similar instructions were given by Superman HD during the performance of his song “More Mash Up” with a line invoking that the bar be destroyed if there are no drinks at the bar.
The final performer of the night was Ricky T who in like fashion and as if to outdo his previous competitors ordered his fans towards the end of the song to go outside and return with a Bounty Rum tent. By this time the organizers and the police had to step in, closing the cultural centre door. One official was later heard saying Ricky T should be arrested as the camps of the Caribbean soca monarch and that of Lancealot clashed outside the NCC at the end of the event. The reality of the matter was that neither of these performers had to subject themselves or their fans to this sort of behaviour as their chances of making it to the finals seemed a sure thing, minus those antics.
By Thursday morning word was that the three artistes in question would be sanctioned by the Carnival committee after it was raised that they may have been in breach of the rules of competition, which speaks to the behaviour of the performer. Throughout the day the subject became fodder for local news, BBM and Facebook.
Song writer, MC and show host Ezi Hall sent out an e-mail that same day expressing his sentiments on the whole matter. “Following a chaotic experience at wet fete in which injuries were sustained due to actions by members of the audience one would have thought that some effort would be made to engage artistes on their influence and power at such events and the need to act responsibly,” Hall started by saying. “Soca music, especially power (Soca), has the potential to make persons act and react through its instructional nature. When emotion aroused from pulsating rhythms are combined with substances which have been known to seriously impede rational thought through the adrenaline rush and other factors, the end result is uncontrolled actions. To make it simple, Soca artistes like many other entertainers (including sports personalities etc) have the power to move people and command them to act in a manner which can be considered dangerous and even unlawful in some instances,” Hall continued.
In his statement Hall went on to admonish such performers stating that “damage to facilities, equipment, clothing and even the health of patrons cannot be justified no matter how apparently exciting the performance.” In addressing the artistes directly he noted that safety is the most critical aspect of any event and to some is perhaps the most significant consideration in deciding whether or not to attend. “I appeal to all artistes to act responsibly and use their power for the betterment of their art form and country. We should not have to depend on law enforcement to enjoy ourselves in a safe and enjoyable manner,” Hall stressed.
But blame must also be accepted by the organizers for hosting a power soca show in such an enclosed place particular as the response and reaction to power soca songs in competition is well known. The songs causing the stir as well had been performed before at various venues with like reaction, something the organizers should have taken cognizant of and dealt with beforehand if there was any need to do so.
At a late night meeting on Thursday with the Carnival committee, the artistes and their management it was decided that no action would be taken against the three soca artistes in question and that they would be allowed to compete along with 19 others at the Power Soca Monarch finals on Saturday July 15, 2011.
However in my humble view, the three artistes in question Superman HD, Ricky T and Sir Lancelaot now need to man-up, put their oversized egos aside, do the right thing and apologize to their fans and the general public for their actions. Two of them, Sir Lancealot and Superman have the added medium of the radio influence and it is time that they recognize the power they have in the hands and set the right example not just to other radio announcers and soca artistes but the young impressionable minds they impose on and influence. And if they are as creative as they say they are and true entertainers they can certainly turn this negative into a positive.
The Government (if they continue to be involved) the organizers and the sponsors, too, need to have a strong voice in all of this. It cannot be doing this carnival thing as business as usual. The time has come (I think I have said this one too many times) to determine and decide once and for all what is Saint Lucia’s carnival? What is its significance and purpose? Who does it belong to? And to whom will it be entrusted? The stakeholder too must be given clearly stated guidelines as to their participation.
The fact that there seems to be hardly anything cultural, Saint Lucian or even anything being done for the love of carnival and to secure its future is quite worrying. I answered the question as to how “the carnival got so?” from a colleague this week in two words “money and egos.” But in the end what doth it profit? Nuff said.

   The judges have made their pick for the Calypso Finals. But, if the crowd alone had to decide on Sunday evening July 3, 2011 during the Calypso semi-finals the number one spot would go to Nintus, judging from the tremendous support he got for both of his songs. Then there were all of those political commentary songs, most anti Government, including Morgee’s “Rumpelstiltskin” and “Judus”, Jynx “Too Much on Deh Account,” Bingo “My Job I Protecting” and “Memories and Wishes,” Duval “King Fish”, Niki “Mr Minister”, Super Sweet “Not This Guy”, Robbie “E Cay Sorti,” and Herb Black “Same Damn Ting.” And so, if the sentiments of the calypsonians and that of the fans is anything to judge the silly season by then let’s just say the Attorney General and the Gros Islet representative Leonard “Spider” Montoute who were in the audience might just be scratching their heads this week.
And of course there was judgement passed on the back up bands for the event, yes bands for there were two. Following a controversy last week over which band to use for the semi-finals; Caribbean Connection comprising Saint Lucians and Trinidadians and Gregory Piper’s All Star band, a compromise was arrived at to use both bands.
In the first segment, Caribbean Connections backed up Educator, Bingo, Nintus, Jynx, Animator, Morgee, Blaze, Bingo and Duval. Segment two featured Menelle, Walleigh, Nicki, Herb Black, TC Brown, Super Sweet, Sara Lee, Lady K, Ti Carro and Robbie backed by the all-star band. The verdict on which band sounded better is still out, but let me just say that they both sounded good, but the edge may be given to Caribbean Connection for clarity which may have had more to do with the engineering.
All this aside, Sunday’s semi-finals went smoothly and can be scored a success in terms of attendance, the general good quality of songs and how quickly the event flowed. Kudos too, to the MC’s Ezi Hall and newcomer AJ who also kept the audience entertained throughout. The event started sometime after 4pm with the first performer Educator putting the system to the test and grabbing the attention of the audience with his well articulated delivery of “De Conversation,” which was very well received. He was followed by Morgee who did “Rumpelstiltskin.” The artiste came dressed as the fairytale character he was singing about. The song gives the impression that there is a hidden game player making the moves behind the scenes for the incumbent and that character may no longer play fair due to the ingratitude of some. Morgee continued to express his disdain for the ruling party in “Judus,” declaring that he preferred to be referred to as Judus than Richard or Rufus.
Jynx who originally performed as Solange performed “I Need,” a social commentary using the imagery of a street beggar confronting the singer and her response to him expressing what she need to see in this country. Her second song was “Too Much on Deh Account,” a strong political commentary and good performance overall by the singer. Animator and Blaze also put their cases forward in this segment, but it was Nintus who would have the entire audience going along with his “St Chu,” which ignited the National Cultural Centre. The singer suggested that with so much involvement in the island by the Taiwanese and Ambassador Tom Chou that the island should be renamed St Chu. Duval continued the political commentary with “Focus” singing about Government’s priorities and his second song made jest that as a fisherman he was finding it difficult to sell kingfish these days. Bingo continued the bashing of the present administration particularly the Prime Minister and some of his alleged actions with the song “My Job I Protecting.”
In round two Educator invoked much imagery with “Pigeon View” with the birds of the air explaining some of the misdeeds they see daily while Nintus was again the show stopper this time with his popular “I’m a Man Not an Angel.” The song had the audience singing along to his chorus and enjoying his dance moves on stage. Bingo’s “Memories and Wishes,” also went down very well in round two.
In the second Segment Menell got things off to a brilliant start with “Rebellious Youth,” while Walleigh’s “Invoke de Lucian Spirit,” was performed against a nice backdrop of African and Indigenous rhythms. Niki’s “Mr Minister” showed that she belonged in Calypso as a first time performer in that arena while Herb Black’s “De Labour Code” for some brought back memories of his classic “One Day’s Work.” Super Sweet (whose really name is Guy Joseph) was quite creative with his “Not This Guy” expressing some of the things he would not want to mistaken for as Minister Guy Joseph. Sara Lee’s performance gave hope that the future of Calypso seemed strong in the hands of young performers and female Calypsonians. Her two songs “De Root of Crime” and “Doggie House” was very well performed. Ten year veteran TC Brown performed “End of Time” in round one and in round two looking very much like a Lucian Avatar in his body paint performed “Today is De Day.” The performer’s prowess, creativity and experience was exemplified when near the end of his performance he called the band leader Piper centre stage and acknowledged his 41 year contribution to the art-form. Brown then performed a new verse inspired by the “band controversy” which sealed a wonderful performance. With a great voice Lady K who performed “My Country” and “Blame” needs to work on selling her songs to the audience and judges while Ti Carro’s “Carro’s Legacy” missed the mark slightly for a song with a good concept.
Robbie’s “E Cay Sorti” was performed in round one, with “Barrel Children” a song with much potential, but maybe a little too late, in round two. Menell “Two Toms” in round two was one of the stronger performances then, while Walleigh did “Disco Lights,” Niki “Me De Jammette,” Herb Black “Same Damn Ting”, Supersweet “Every man Has a Vice,” and Ti Carro “Save de Children.”
The semi-final competition which was held at the National Cultural Centre, featured eighteen calypsonians from five of the six tents and was broadcast “live” on Choice Channel 39. That in no way hampered the attendance at the venue.
Following the judges deliberations Sunday evening, the results were audited and released by The Saint Lucia Carnival Stakeholders Committee first to tent leaders, then to the media.
The finalists selected are, from Black & White Ambassadors; Morgie, Bingo and Educator, performing with Soca Village Niki, Walliegh and TC Brown and from South tent Menell, Nintus and Animator.
The nine will come up against reigning Calypso Monarch “De Invader” at the Calypso Monarch finals, Sunday July 17, 2011, 8pm at the Beausejour Cricket Ground.
With five of the finalist having supported the move to use Caribbean Connections, four having opted out in support of the “All Star Band,” no word yet as to who will be used as the band for the finals and who will make this judgement call.

   Mind boggling figures and the fact that over the years most if not all of the major shows for carnival have been financial flops made it atop a table of discussion last weekend.
A two-day national consultation on Saint Lucia carnival revealed a number pertinent issues that continue to plague and stymie the growth of the event. Chief among them were issues with regards to proper venues for carnival related shows as well as financial support for carnival. However another key concern was that over the years most of the major carnival shows have been operating at great financial loss, something which came as a surprise to many of the participants at the consultation.
The Carnival consultation was held at the NIC Conference Room over a two-day period; Saturday January 15 and Sunday January 16, 2011. It was organized by the Cultural Development Foundation (CDF) with Embert Charles as facilitator. Ahead of the process a release from the CDF whose mandate it is to facilitate and manage cultural events like Carnival, stated that the main objective of the consultation would be to determine and clarify the way forward for Saint Luca carnival. Another objective was to establish guidelines for the management and production of carnival 2011.
Over the two days presentations were made by various carnival organizations including the Folk Research Centre (on the significance of carnival), the Carnival bands association, Calypsonians association, Steel bands association, community carnivals and the carnival queen committee. At the start of the consultation there were addressed by the chairman of the CDF Mr. Milton Branford, the Minister of Education and Culture Arsene James, and the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia Stephenson King. According to the Prime Minister the Government of Saint Lucia intends on throwing its support behind carnival. King also gave a commitment that the government will improve the arrangement and increase on the funding for the production and development of carnival in Saint Lucia. Following some of the presentations Saturday, requests were made by several participants for the disclosure of the financial figures for Carnival 2010.
The first order of business on the second day was on financing and the startling figures which the CDF was faced with in 2010. Among them was the whopping EC$100,000 spent on the national carnival queen pageant which saw returns of only EC$16,000, inter-commercial house on which EC$70,000 was spent, with EC$13,000 realized as gate receipts. In fact all of the major shows in 2010 lost monies including the opening of carnival on where EC$115,600 was spent but which brought in just EC$28,000. According to officials the high cost of service providers absorbed most of the money but some felt that there were other areas where cuts could be made to make the events more financially viable.
Also on day two the consultation saw presentations on Emergency plans (by NEMO), Marketing and Rights and Royalties with a presentation by the Eastern Caribbean Copyright Organization. Notably absent however were representatives from the police and the Saint Lucia Tourist Board, both of which were down to make presentations at the event. The SLTB over the last few years have been charged with marketing carnival regionally and internationally, something many of the participants last weekend felt that the body was not doing effectively and efficiently. The question of mass crowd events having to shut down at 2am was also brought up as a topic; with the question of security vis-a-vis the curtailing of the enjoyment of events by carnival lovers, drew a spate of debate.
A number of recommendations came through at the conclusion of the consultation including the possible provision of a full time carnival desk (secretariat) at the CDF, determining which events are deemed national, sponsors absorbing fully the responsibility of prizes, prize money and trophies, expanding the carnival season to begin from Easter Sunday and to end the third Tuesday in July.

This it was felt, would help facilitate greater participation of the community carnivals and avoid dates of the main events clashing with some of these. Participants at the consultation also proposed that the government establish through legislation, the date for carnival to be fixed as the third Monday and Tuesday of July in every year and that these two days should be public holidays.
Coming out of the consultation, a committee, comprising of two representatives each nominated by their main associations was established to assist the CDF in a thorough review of the financial management of the carnival events and make recommendations to the government.
A series of new initiatives was also proposed including the dates of the major events, with the view to making the final two weekend of carnival packed with the more popular activities. New judging areas for the national parade of the bands for 2011 was proposed as well as combining steel band and king and queen of the bands show, increased use of the new media (Internet, Facebook, Twitter) by the CDF for the promotion of carnival and inter-school and inter commercial house panorama. Training was also mooted as essential to the development of carnival with a proposal for a program for training in production of carnival, costumes and calypso, rights management and judging.
A communiqué coming from CDF following last weekend’s activity states that a full report of the consultation will be produced and circulated to all participants, other carnival stakeholders and the appropriate government ministries. The consultation, it also said approved the formation of a representative group of five people to work with the CDF to finalize the document for submission to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Education & Culture. This document is expected to be in the hands of the relative authorities by the end of January 2011. The ball will then be in the hands of the government to determine what aspects of Saint Lucia’s carnival as recommended will be adopted and what level of support will given to the event.

   From my vantage point it appeared to have been so. Perhaps some of the camera operators had been mindful of the criticism that, in the past, some of them had chosen to concentrate on those erotic displays by some of the revelers, some of whom, though, did succeed in presenting themselves to the TV cameras as the unruly and the licentious, and to announce their blatant invitations to intimacy. One young woman was seen to begin to discard some parts of her costume, and for a moment I feared that she had preferred to be in the nude.
I was reminded of Julius Caesar’s edict “Nemo violare licet in hortibus Caesaris.” (No one is allowed to desecrate the sanctity of Caesar’s gardens.) In other words lovers must find an alternative venue as their trysting place.
For this year’s Carnival it was, in truth, the very first time that I had such a kaleidoscope of colours. Dazzlingly brilliant, indeed!
And the women! Oh la la! I have travelled to several parts of the world, and I have seen many very beautiful women, but from the display of pulchritude at this year’s Carnival I am firmly of the opinion that Saint Lucia has the most beautiful women in the world. Don’t tell me otherwise.
Carnival, when it first started in ancient Rome one thousand years ago, had been a celebration in honour of the Roman god, Bacchus, known in ancient Greece as Dionysus, god of fertility and of wine who also inspires Poetry and Music. The drunken and riotous revelry associated with the rites at the festival, known as Bacchanalia, in honour of Bacchus, came to be known as bacchanal.
In the Caribbean Carnival has taken on a definite revolutionary change from the original Roman festival. It has become in these parts, street theatre at its best, and one in which almost the entire population participates. What the Honourable Derek has called “mass art,” and “the expression of a people with a fantastic original genius for the theatrical.” The “essential law of carnival,” continued Walcott “is movement . . . an anarchic and restless force always on the move” and I should add, also, sculptures on the move.
From the colourful and artistic creativity that I have seen here, I predict that the Saint Lucian Carnival, were it to continue with, and improve on, that outstanding and breath-taking creativity, would soon be ranked amongst the best of the world’s Carnivals.
A word about the commentators at this year’s event. The electronic media managers must exercise greater care and select people with a gift of language. Two in particular at one of the T. channels revealed a poverty of vocabulary that was pitifully on display, and one young man, I recall, gave out some questionable historical information about the Empress Josephine, a mulatto. Napoleon Bonaparte was Josephine’s second husband. She had been married, previously, to the Count Beauharnais. So when she married Napoleon she was already a lady of rank, the Countess Beauharnais.
There is still controversy concerning Josephine’s birthplace. Both Saint Lucia and Martinique claim her. There is a statue of her in the Parc Floral in Forte-de-France, Martinique. Dr Michael Louis, a former Chief Education Officer in Saint Lucia and whose doctoral thesis was on the Post-Emancipation period, is a graduate in Sociology and History and the author of a book on the Empress Josephine which the community of Paix Bouche in Saint Lucia claim as her birthplace.
One more observation. The weather, which had been threatening on both afternoons, eventually broke out in furious downpours which underlined that the choice of dates for the Carnival from it being a pre-Lenten festival, to the Hurricane Season, was always a risky venture.
The people of Saint Lucia have never been told the real questionable arguments for the change of dates. The rain, however, did not stop the revelers. There will no doubt be many absentees at work after the Carnival, headaches and flu, and, of course, an increase in the population nine months hence.
The essence of the Carnival this year was distilled in the chant by the jogging revelers: “Ma Malay,” or was it “Pas Malay,”a shortened version of the French Creole “Moin pas malay.” That about summed it up for them.