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Duane O' Connor is TUCO North Zone's
2007 Calypso Monarch
Duane O' Connor
TriniSoca.com Reporters
Event Date: November 16, 2007
Posted: November 28, 2007
Duanne O'Connor was adjudged winner as TUCO North Zone held their 4th annual Calypso Monarch Competition on Friday 16th November, 2007 at the SWWTU in Port of Spain. Twelve Calypsonians from TUCO's North Zone vied for the first prize of $50,000 dollars in this two song competition. Scores of patrons came out for this show; among them were former Police Commissioner Everald Snaggs, Makandal Daaga, Karega Mandela and 'Brother Resistance' as well as Calypsonians 'Brother Akil', 'Brother Superior', 'Brigo' and 'The Mighty Duke'.
Duane O'Connor sang his tribute song to the 'Mighty Duke' titled "Sartorial Elegance" during which the 'Mighty Duke' himself joined him onstage briefly. His second song titled "The Right Voice" expressed that, "You could be poor, but yuh don't have to use a gun to settle a score or fight no war." In song he told the audience that Jesus, Mary, Joseph and John the Baptist came from the ghetto but they had made the right choice by listening to the right voice. His songs found favour with the judges who scored him ahead of the other contestants.
The show started with a guest performance by Mr. Bynoe who directed some picong towards the blimp. MC 'Hot Foot' kept the audience entertained with his mannerisms as he kept changing clothes throughout the evening to the amusement of the audience.
Heather Mc Intosh
Heather Mac Intosh kicked off the competition with her 2007 social commentary titled "Check I" that criticized the lack of public consultation on the part of political leaders in formulating and implementing various national projects. For her second song, she came to the stage dressed in white and waving a white fan to render "One For the Fans". In this song she highlighted how it is her supporters who keep her strong when she is faced with various obstacles, among which she highlighted was the incompetence of Calypso judges.
Hamidullah Wahid, dressed in farmer's gear, came to the stage to sing "Jackass for Sale" which directed picong towards UNC A Chairman Jack Warner. His second song titled "Yuh Cyar Land" was a humorous double-entendre laced Calypso that explored his experiences with an air hostess who insisted that he could not land with a cock (fowl) in his hand.
Roger 'Bodyguard' Mohammed
Defending Champion Roger 'Bodyguard' Mohammed came out firing on all cylinders as he rendered a socio-political commentary titled "Natural Progression". He got a rapturous response from the audience as he directed barbs towards various political leaders. 'Bodyguard's' second song titled "Why Yuh From?" was a lighter, humorous song that associated certain behavioral traits of women to certain local geographical places.
Dorril 'Versatile' Hector gave an impressive rendition of "Shadow Reloaded" in which he delivered some humorous imitations of 'Shadow's' style. 'Versatile's' second song was titled "My Vision" and contained a strong critique against corruption and social decay.
Mark 'Contender' John sang his perspective of the cell phone war between TSTT and Digicel in his witty ditty titled "Let the War Continue". In this song he argued that the war should continue as it brought certain benefits to the population of Trinidad and Tobago.
LEFT: 'General Grant' and Garth St. Clair
When Garth St. Clair came to the stage to render his first song "My Brother's Keeper", he dedicated it to all recovering addicts as well as to his mother who stood by his side through thick and thin. Garth's second song was titled "Whey the Billboard", and he brought star singer 'General Grant' to the stage. He told the audience that Trinidad has Soca Ambassadors all over the world but the embryo of Soca (Calypso) is still suffering. Alluding to the existence of a mafia within the Soca industry he told the audience that the Soca train stalled in Port of Spain as the patrons applauded loudly.
Ann Marie 'Twiggy' Parks Kojo waxed lyrical in her first song "Calypso" as she paid tribute to the Calypso art form. In her second song "Tell the Authorities" she argued that crime is a social disease as she criticized bad boy attitudes and the rampant white-color criminal activities.
Leroy 'Conqueror' Paul
Leroy 'Conqueror' Paul sang "Abbreviation" followed by "Dictionary". His second song was a well-crafted Kaiso that highlighted the nature of local parlance. Saying that Webster (of Webster's Dictionary) needed to come to Trinidad, 'Conqueror' spoke of such words such as jagabat, pappy show, mammaguy and others.
Veteran Calypsonian Stanley Adams sang a song titled "A Next Cross to Move" in which he declared that although the Trinity Cross got removed, there are more crosses to move, including crooked police, smelter and high food prices. Stanley's second song titled "How They Go Know" was a lyrically strong Calypso which expressed that if young people are too violent then we need to blame our incompetence as children follow the examples set by adults.
Roderick 'Chucky' Gordon
Roderick 'Chucky' Gordon sang an impressive Calypso titled "Calypso Changing Face" in which he expressed that there is nothing wrong with Calypso's changing face and used 'Sparrow', 'Kitchener' and David Rudder as examples. In his second song "Street Justice" 'Chucky' explored the crime situation where witnesses are frightened and bumped off, and the accused are found not guilty.
Karene Asche unleashed a powerful Calypso on the audience titled "Brother" which urged evil influences to, "Release we brother". She expressed that poverty is no excuse for a life of violence and crime. Females did not escape her focus as she criticized females saying that their in thing is to have a thug in their life. Her performance was enough for her to earn second place in the standings.
RIGHT: Anthony 'Allrounder' Hendrickson
During the intermission, veteran Calypsonian 'Allrounder' showed fine form as he treated the audience to two songs, backed up by his two dynamic daughters. The first song embodied the very essence of Calypso music as an art form of resistance; 'Allrounder' emphasized the issues facing African people as he expressed that the fight for Black liberation must continue. From this serious song, he launched into "Innocent Jail", a bacchanal song that satirized the controversy surrounding pastor Jimmy Swaggart in 1989.
'Rootsman' was also in good form as he too treated the audience to two songs, one of which was his classic song "Rock Me". The audience clapped and sang along as 'Rootsman's' performance signaled the end of the TUCO North Zone Calypso Competition.
One noteworthy aspect of the show was that it highlighted some of the Calypsos from the last Carnival season while exposing the public to some of the new material prepared by Calypsonians.
TUCO North Zone Calypso Monarch 2007 in pictures:
www.trinisoca.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=80688
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