Benjai

One soca artiste is making it clear that unless the International Soca Monarch Competition is brought up to standard, he will not enter again.

Last Jam singer, Benjai, who was carded to perform in the semifinal round of the competition last Sunday at the Arima Velodrome, unexpectedly removed himself, citing that the band did not have enough time to rehearse his track. In an exclusive interview yesterday, Benjai said: “I have no problem with the band. Vince, (the leader of the band), told me they had 89 songs to learn in five days. With the knowledge that I have, I can say that is humanly impossible.” Benjai said his rehearsal date had been set for Saturday night, merely one day before the competition and when he got there, he saw many other new artistes waiting to rehearse with the band. The situation was one of desperation, he said, as artistes who had been at the St James Police Barracks, where the rehearsals were being held, had been waiting on directives from as early as 10 am. He said he knew the situation would have left room for many musical errors and, as such, he chose to step down.

“They keep changing rules every year, but what is necessary—like another band being added to facilitate the amount of artistes being placed into the competition—that is not being done,” he said. Benjai said the placement of artistes from outside T&T directly into the final leg of competition should be reconsidered. He believes these artistes should be placed in the semifinal round with all other local competitors to allow for a fair and unbiased competition. “Most of these artistes from across the region aren’t even getting much airplay in Trinidad. But we have other local artistes who are getting real airplay and because there are only so many places, they are at a disadvantage,” he said. Benjai appealed to Caribbean Prestige Foundation (CPF) to understand that T&T was the Mecca of Carnival and that the standard of competition should be of a higher level. “They don’t care about the artistes. They don’t even provide something as simple as water for the artistes to drink,” he added.

CPF responds
Chairman of CFP William Munroe said yesterday there were over 300 participants from the preliminary round of competition who took part and whether Benjai performed or not, the show went on as planned. Munroe declined to elaborate further on the issue.