Machel Montano has always been a very intelligent and extremely talented performer. Some prominent people,however, have expressed great disappointment in his inability to move this music to another level.

Many phenomena, other than Carnival, confirm that our twin-island state is unique. These include the manner in which we treat with our cultural art forms, our cultural heritage and our cultural icons. The following anecdotes will demonstrate how deep-seated this cultural indifference exists in this society.

Congratulations to the champions of the Carnival competitions. While Fay-Ann, Chalkdust, Silver Stars and other performers were creating history in this festival, some major players continue to explore different strategies to destroy the sustainability of this cultural event. Whether people were experiencing Carnival live on the streets, or viewing it on television, many have concluded hat the spirit or the essence appeared to be missing in the festivities. The 2009 edition of this national festival has further confirmed the notion that the once Greatest Show on Earth continues to experience a slow and painful death.

As the country prepares to welcome visitors to its shores to enjoy the annual Carnival celebrations, Trinidad and Tobago Carnival continues to lose its unique characteristics as a traditional, national and cultural festival. The trinity of the celebrations, which comprise three major elements—mas, calypso/soca, steelband—are encountering tremendous challenges to now reproduce spectacular masterpieces that can be favourably compared to the golden era of this Carnival. What was it about the ethos of the Trinidad Carnival that captured the imagination of the early West Indian immigrants in New York as early as the 1920s and influenced them to try to reproduce aspects of this Carnival?