Matthew Chin

and In­nis Fran­cis

So­ca star Mi­cal Te­ja (Mi­cal Williams) scored his first-ever ma­jor win in the 38th an­nu­al Young Kings Ca­lyp­so Com­pe­ti­tion at the Grand Stand, Queen’s Park Sa­van­nah, on Tues­day night.

Williams, 34, who sang in po­si­tion eight, topped the field of 16 fi­nal­ists with his run­away so­ca hit, DNA.

Guardian Me­dia Lim­it­ed sports re­porter Cas­ton Cu­pid took sec­ond place with Straight From The Heart, while Pharoah (Dawren Greenidge) was third with Ah Doh Want to Do It.

It was Mi­cal Te­ja’s sec­ond at­tempt at the com­pe­ti­tion. Last year he placed fourth with Hall of Fame.

When the so­ca star was con­tact­ed for com­ment on his vic­to­ry yes­ter­day, he in­di­cat­ed that he had lost his voice and had been un­able to speak since the com­pe­ti­tion.

Cu­pid not­ed that com­ment­ing on the ills in so­ci­ety is the foun­da­tion of ca­lyp­so, and that was what in­spired his song, Straight From the Heart.

“Ca­lyp­so­ni­ans need to be feared and fear­less and I think that is what is lack­ing in ca­lyp­so to­day. Some of the ca­ly­pos­es are very soft on the is­sues that need to be high­light­ed. We are sup­posed to ed­u­cate the pub­lic,” he said.

A spe­cial pre­sen­ta­tion was made to pi­o­neer­ing mem­ber of the Na­tion­al Ac­tion Cul­tur­al Com­mit­tee Aiye­goro Ome who re­ceived a plaque and cheque for $5,000 for his ser­vice to arts and cul­ture in T&T.

The Re­sults (put in box)

1. Mi­cal Te­ja (Mi­cal Williams) - DNA.

2. Cas­ton Cu­pid - Straight From the Heart

3. Dawren Greenidge (Pharaoh) - Ah Doh Want to Do It

4. Ham­mond Bruce (Slick) - Trinidad Is Not A Re­al Place

5. An­dre Nel­son - Trinidad Is Home

6. Romel Leza­ma (Pa­pa Mel) - Re­al Talk