In an open letter to the Calypso Association, veteran calypsonian Jude “Jaydee” Delauney has raised serious concerns about the judging practices in the calypso competition. Delauney, who has been a participant in the competition since the 2013/14 season, has pointed out several instances where he believes the judging was unfair or biased.
Delauney questions the transparency and fairness of the judging process, citing his own experiences in the 2013/14, 2019, and 2024 seasons. He alleges that there is a pattern of ‘mal-judging’ that has affected not only him but many other calypsonians over the years.
The letter criticizes the association’s response to these issues, dismissing the workshops offered as “laughable”. Delauney argues that while workshops are necessary for improving the skills of well-intentioned judges, they do nothing to address the problem of judges who score competitors unfairly or are incapable of doing their job. He calls for regular reviews of judges and the removal of those found to be biased or incompetent.
Delauney rejects the argument that the pool of judges is too small to allow for the removal of problematic judges, stating that there are capable individuals who would be willing to judge if the current issues were addressed.
The letter also links the decline in show attendance and the departure of talented calypsonians from the artform to the issue of poor judging. Delauney suggests that the quality of the competition suffers as a result, leading to less engaging final shows.
Delauney concludes by urging the association to take action to improve the judging process, stating that doing so will attract both former and new capable judges, and help to restore the reputation of the competition.
Below is the full version of Jaydee’s open letter to the DCA.
A lot of people outside of Calypso have influence on the people who judge calypso.Example,any constantly listener of Matt Peltier on q95 would know the crown was between Sye,TrillaG and Dice.After Sye incident it was between TrillaG and Dice.Matt declared Friday 16th February 2024 Dice day on q95,and begged for money for a 10 times king.SHAMELESS.How the hell you expect people to attend Calypso shows when most of the songs are lies,fake news and propaganda about a government?Diasporans who were at my house,I advised them NOT to go to the shows.I will continue to do so untill that BS in Calypso stops.
I doubt that this letter would have been written if JayDee had won the crown. Some times it is difficult to accept that one’s efforts might have simply missed the mark.
That being said, the Association should take JayDee’s letter as legitimate constructive criticism and strive to ensure that the judging process is fair and impartial at all times.
Being a sports official of calypso judge is not an easy profession. But once a person accepts any of these positions, they must do it with all honesty and sincerity. Having said this, there are some judges, not all, who are biased towards certain calypsonians. Judges should put their personal opinion aside and judge a calypsonian on their merit and on the night. But sad to say, that does not happen with some. Some judges come to a show and have already pre set in their mind who going through to the next round. That is my opinion, you do not have to agree with it. I love my calypso, but it is because of such issues that I have stopped going to calypso shows. Too much corruption. And in support of JayDee words, both Calypsonians and fans will and have started staying away, in the end, the Artform suffers.
I agree with you 100%. The judges had it wrong this time. And no one should have to be supportive of a calypsonian because of his political belief.
Calypsonians criticizing judges is not limited to Dominica. My question to Jayder though is, Did you write in a similar manner the year(s) when you won the crown? Were the judges above board? Good? Excellent? PERFECT? BRILLIANT?
Even if you all calypsonians feel aggrieved, the judges work under intense pressure.
Your resolve should be to come better next year.
The entire calypso competition will evolve into a fetid mess, if everyone who is displeased with his/her position sees it as i” was cheated”. The small pool of judges will just become smaller. In my opinion, i do believe that judges have their preferences, but to what extent they allow that to dominate their consciences? Those who do, must be extremely small in number, and as i learnt from a calypsonian, the HIGHEST SCORE or the LOWEST SCORE is not just taken and recorded. It goes through a process. Members of the public who are bawling , calypsonians are cheated, they do so without a list of criteria, which the judges have. Of late even CORRUPTION ladened politicians eith ZERO morals, and their fawning surrogates are trying to kill calypso. The association need to stand against that!
Totally agree
A former judge stated that the selection was poor. Intruder should have not been selected to the finals over Jaydee or even Daddy Chess. Imagine i even see Chess at Viva. I there asking myself if is not that night Calypso show was. In a previous article veteran performers like Mr. Lloyd stated this year was his last try as it makes no sense anymore.