Soca Monarchy is ‘Alive’ and well

DPI, GUYANA, Sunday, February 18, 2018

The finals for 2018 Carib Soca Monarch, on Saturday, February 17, proved to be a challenge for the judges as the contestants brought their ‘A’ game to the last round of competition.

The enthusiastic audience cheered on the 15 semi-finalists into the wee hours of Sunday morning, as they belted out tunes that covered a gamut of social and governmental issues.

However, only one could be crowned the monarch and the title was awarded to Brandon Harding whose spirited song “Alive’ scored him 415.5 points.

Melissa “Vanilla” Roberts copped second place with ‘We Run Things’ with a total of  405 points, while Diana Chapman’s rendition of ‘Get Ready’ earned her third with 403 points.

Among the other semi-finalists who stood out were Alisha “Sasha Melody” Hamid,  Colwin “Lil Colwin” Blair, Colwyn “Soca Colwyn” Abrams, Delon “Soca Del” Azore, Jonathan “Lil Red” King, Keron “Norek Mas” Sam, Quacy “Avalanche” Coates, Roger “Young Bill Rogers” Hinds, Roshauna Fraser, Samantha Grant, Shellon “Fluffy” Gally and Stanton “Cardiac” Lewis.

Harding now joins other well-known names such as Adrian Dutchin, Shelly G and Jumo “Rubberwaist” Primo who have won the title in the past.

The 2018 Carib Soca Monarch Competition which saw over 15 competitors was added to the Mash Calender after a two-year hiatus. Trinidad and Tobago’s conglomerate ANSA McAl and the Government of Guyana for the first time collaborated to host the $12.5M venture.

 

By: Neola Damon

 

For more photos, click on the link to the DPI’s Flickr Page

https://www.flickr.com/photos/142936155@N03/