This year, Dominicans will witness the first-ever virtual calypso competition which will not affect the reign of the 2020 monarch Jude “Jay Dee” Delauney who will serve as King till 2022.
Calypso lovers can now breathe a sigh of relief as the Dominica Calypso Association (DCA) has officially announced the staging of the 2021 calypso competition, despite the cancellation of carnival.
The announcement came at a press conference held yesterday by members of the DCA Executive at Calypso House in Bath Estate.
President of the DCA, Davidson “Observer” Victor, said that at the virtual show, one calypsonian will be crowned as the 2021 Virtual Calypso Monarch and will reign alongside the 2020 Monarch Jay Dee as the national competition is suspended until 2022.
“Covid-19 has put the world in a situation where adaptation has become the order of the day, and the Calypso Association is no exception. When Covid-19 struck and carnival was cancelled everything was uncertain as to what was going to happen. From the Calypso Association standpoint, we just knew, high or low waters, we have to do something because even if there is not carnival in the sense of revelling, calypso being the nature that it is and being the type of artform that it is, it can still happen,” he stated.
The DCA president said the show will be downscaled and the selection process will be different.
“What we felt that could work best for us is to allow calypsonians to bring in their songs on CD by the 15th of January, and we will have a panel of judges who will select the songs from the CD but it is only if we have more than 30 calypsonians we will go through with that process,” Victor said.
The 30 calypsonians who were selected will then compete in the semi-final show which is carded for January 30, and from that show, 15 calypsonians will be chosen to move to the final round which will be held on February 13, at a one round calypso competition.
“The reason why we are taking 15 calypsonians from the semi-finals rather than the typical 10 is because we are only letting them sing one song rather than singing two songs. We understand the challenges of even getting calypsonians to their record songs so it will be a very challenging thing not only in terms of the logistics of getting it done but in terms of the financial aspect of things,” Victor explained.
The shows will be held at the Old Mill Cultural Center and will only accommodate 250 people in line with the Ministry of Health Covid-19 protocols.
“We can only have a total of 250 people at any one time in the arena. Inclusive of that 250 people, you have bandsmen, media, sponsor reps, calypsonians and all the likes, so basically, at the end of the day we might only be able to charge 100 patrons,” the DCA president stated.
In that regard, the association’s treasurer, Narrin Murphy, is appealing to sponsors to get on board to keep the event “afloat”.
“As difficult as it has proven to be, we have opted to put our best foot forward. This is something new and while the president alluded that we have been doing streaming before, streaming has been part of our pocket change but it has now become our primary source of revenue for the show,” he said.
With a budget of over $100,000, Murphy said the DCA is unsure as to how much revenue the show will generate. However, he gave the assurance that there will be “aggressive promotion and vigorous pursuits” to ensure that the virtual event becomes a reality.
Typically, the monarch would be awarded a cash prize of $20,000, however, according to Murphy, given the existing challenges, the prizes could be increased depending on the amount of revenue which the show raises.
“While we do not know if we will make one dollar, we are willing to make some reasonable commitment to the calypsonians,” he said. “It will not be the same as other years but at the end of the day, you have to motivate the calypsonians who are making the show. If we exceed our expectation, there will be an upward movement in whatever we propose.”
According to the the DCA, the calypsonians have been engaged and the decision which was taken was based on suggestions from the members.
Can’t a road March be reached by judging the frequency of the songs plated on the radio stations Monday and Tuesday…..
Dominicans, in my opinion are practically all crazy or simply stupid! It is not my intention to offend anyone; but stupidity must be exposed!
There is a pandemic of COVID-19 eating at the core of the worlds population.
Britain (England ) has recently returned to a complete lock down. In America four thousand people die each day from the virus, that is approximately one death in less than five minuets each day.
Nevertheless, Dominica with a handful of people where the ratio of infected people are rising, some clowns are talking calypso crap. If there are thirty thousand residence at home all of you can die in one week!
I refuse to read the complete article because I think it is stupid and disgusting!
Coronavirus Update: Maps And Charts For U.S. Cases And …https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/09/…Dec 26, 2020 · This page is updated regularly. More than 21 million people in the U.S. have had confirmed coronavirus infections and more than 360,000 have died of…
Would it be possible to even have a form of pay per view online with quality that is also with registration opening early to give you and people to gauge the response.
Good effort DCA. I know I want to be in that 100. Why can’t you all do it in the stadium?
How can you guarantee or give a fixed amount for the winner when you do not know where your revenue is coming from. With only about 100 patrons that would be allowed, you would then be depending on sponsorship to raise the needed finances. That is where the Calypso Association Executive fell short, before announcing prize money figures, they should have approached sponsors to see what money they can raise and so based on what you are able to get, you decide on prize money. This I consider to be poor planning