Rad­hi­ca Sookraj

New­com­er to the Na­tion­al Ca­lyp­so Monarch Selvon Noel, aka Mis­tah Shak, is one of 14 ca­lyp­so­ni­ans head­ing to Port-of-Spain on Di­manche Gras night on Sun­day for the fi­nale of the com­pe­ti­tion. The 15 con­tenders draw for po­si­tions to­day. Noel, at­tached to Kaiso House tent in Port-of-Spain, re­ceived the most ap­plause as he sang his hit tune Rogue, dressed in po­lice fa­tigue at Skin­ner Park, San Fer­nan­do, at the an­nu­al Ca­lyp­so Fi­es­ta on Sat­ur­day. The song de­picts how Noel pro­tect­ed and served with pride. Al­so win­ning a place at the the Di­manche Gras is Anne Marie Cud­joe-Parks (Twig­gy), who sang Give Thanks.

While most of the ca­lyp­so­ni­ans poked fun at the PNM Gov­ern­ment, Twig­gy dif­fered as she gave a spir­it­ed per­for­mance en­cour­ag­ing the pop­u­la­tion to give thanks for be­ing blessed. An­tho­ny "All-Rounder" Hen­drick­son al­so made it to the fi­nals with his tune Fe­male Life Guard, along with the pop­u­lar Bri­an Lon­don, who sang A Ca­lyp­son­ian. Car­los James, (Skatie), an­oth­er crowd favourite with his tune A Cry for Life, al­so found a place. De­von Seales, Kizzy Ruiz, Kurt Allen, Michael (Pro­tec­tor) Leg­ger­ton and Nicole Greaves are al­so among the fi­nal­ists.

Vet­er­an distaff ca­lyp­son­ian Singing San­dra proved that she still com­mands at­ten­tion with her deep-souled mes­sages when she ren­dered No Child Shall be Left Be­hind. The tune al­so se­cured a spot for Singing San­dra at the Di­manche Gras. The tune por­trayed a heart-rend­ing ac­count of the lives of sex­u­al­ly abused chil­dren. Al­so mak­ing it to the fi­nals are Rod­er­ick (Chucky) Gor­don, Sean Daniel and Win­ston Scar­bor­ough, the Orig­i­nal De Fos­to Him­self, whose con­tender is "In a Palace State of Mind." All four­teen will be do­ing bat­tle against reign­ing monarch Hol­lis Liv­er­pool, aka The Mighty Chalk­dust.