President of the Dominica Calypso Association (DCA) Davidson ‘Observer’ Victor, has hailed the first-ever Virtual calypso Monarch as a success, despite the many challenges.
The COVID-affected calypso season which culminated with the final on Friday 12 February 2021, saw The Bobb being crowned the winner of the competition which was held at the Old Mill Cultural Center.
“We felt really happy with the way things turned out,” the DCA President told Dominica News Online (DNO). “We had a lot of challenges, probably the greatest I’ve had to endure in all my years while being on the executive, but we are very thankful that we were able to overcome those challenges and to have a successful year of calypso.”
Based on the reports from patrons and viewers of the shows, Victor is confident that persons were satisfied with the quality of the calypso this year and the quality of the event itself, despite the competition being scaled down to only one round instead of two.
He informed our team that while there were many constraints, the main challenge this year was financing the show, as sponsorship was reduced by 70 percent, and gate receipts, their main revenue, decreased by over 98 percent.
“Calypso cost a lot of money and they have fixed cost that just never goes away. Other years we do little streaming more for the patrons out of Dominica which would serve as a side income because our main source of revenue would come from the thousands of persons who would gather at the shows,” he stated.
This year, however, only 199 people were allowed into the venue both for the semis and finals which meant that only 130 tickets were sold, 60 and 70 respectively. The others places went to production personnel, judges, calypsonians, helpers, security, media, and the like.
Additionally, the president reported that given the COVID-19 protocols implemented by the Ministry of Health, several new measures had to be implemented, which was an additional cost to the DCA.
He expressed delight that the calypsonian did agree to a cutback in the cash prizes this year. Typically, the winner would be awarded EC$20,000, second place $16,000, third $12,000, fourth $10,000, and $5,000 to each of the other finalists. The year, cash prizes were $5,000, 3,000, 2,000, and $500.00 respectively.
“The main lesson we have to learn is that we have to look at the figures regarding streaming and how many people that viewed and paid for the show as this was our main source of revenue for us. We have to start there. Depending on what it is, we have to look at our strategy, what did we do wrong, or what we could have done better to maximize on that area of it,” Victor said.
He highlighted the importance of fostering collaboration among the association and different, competing sponsors.
“And even though they are competing sponsors, we have to try to see how we can get them to work together because the way it is, sometimes one sponsor cannot give you all what you really need to take care of the cost of putting on the event and I keep talking about the cost because it is very costly to put on calypso,” the DCA official remarked.
Victor said the team will meet shortly to chart the way forward for the 2022 competition, with both COVID and the regular show in mind
“We will be in a better position next year because we will have more time to plan. I think we will attempt to have our calypso because we have figured that calypso is something that we cannot afford to lose in Dominica and we are the custodians of it, so we have to always try to do something to keep it alive,” he stated.
As it pertains to the present reigning monarch, Jay Dee, who was not dethroned and will carry on the title for the rest of the year, the DCA president says that a decision will be taken as whether Jay Dee will be dethroned at next year’s competition, virtual or not.
Corruption in Kaiso, who judging de judges