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HomeNewsArchivesCARNIVAL CALYPSO TENTS AN UNOFFICIAL ESSENTIAL

CARNIVAL CALYPSO TENTS AN UNOFFICIAL ESSENTIAL

April 18, 2004 – In St. Thomas nightclubs and ballrooms, local calypsonians have been putting their compositions for V.I. Carnival 2004 to the test.
Many of the songs served up in the three elimination tents will be heard in coming shows at Lionel Roberts Stadium, in the Village, and along the routes of this year's J'ouvert and Children's and Adult Parades. One will be the road march. One will win the calypso monarch crown for its composer/performer.
This year there were three calypso tent competitions. The last, the Soca Brigade Calypso Elimination Tent, was held Friday night at Pilgrim's Terrace. The two earlier shows, the Sanctum of Wisdom and Fun and the Elimination Tent and Man a' Big Man Contest, took place over Easter weekend. At each event, a team of judges assessed the selections.
Ten finalists will be selected on the basis of originality, rendition, presentation, clarity, lyrics and creativity. They'll take their turns in the spotlight at Lionel Roberts Stadium the night of April 29 in the Coors Light V.I. Calypso Competition.
Trashrow, Mighty Pat, Smiley, Super T, Lollypop Man, Man Chi-Chi and King Herring took to the Pilgrim's Terrace stage on Friday night. Their songs evoked familiar themes — festival melee, politics, man-woman relationships, even a murder mystery.
Mighty Pat, multi-year calypso king on St. Croix, urged thugs and gunmen to sign up for the Army but warned them that those they will shoot at shoot back. Smiley warned against the spread of AIDS. Man Chi-Chi drew laughter with his tale of a taxi man whose love life suffered every time he heard the call "back to the ship."
The new chair of the V.I. Carnival Calypso Committee, current and five-time monarch Whadablee (St. Clair DeSilva), who's not seeking a sixth victory, watched the show from the sidelines. He explained at the end that his work does not begin until a judging committee picks the 10 finalists. "Whoever the judges pick, we take them and put on the best possible show for the people of the Virgin Islands," he said.
Although not on the official V.I. Carnival calendar of events, the elimination tents are where calypsonians test their popularity and that of their songs with local music fans.
Meantime, a cadre of non-competitors may test their own marketability, launching new albums for the season, hoping their songs will be picked up by dance bands, steelbands, radio stations and carnival fans.
Then there are the specialists. "Extempo" artists who can make up a song on the spot, given a topic, upholding a longtime tradition. Contestants in the Man a' Big Man Contest vied for cash prizes to come up with a calypso on what they would do if they were the governor. This year's "big man" was a woman who called herself Uncle Sis.
A singer called Mudada gained instant popularity when he confessed to being an immigrant chastised for proffering commentary on local politics. "Mudada go home! They tell me go home! Mudada go home and leave the people's business alone!" the audience shouted, flinging dismissive hands in his direction.
It was the chorus to his song, and as they sang along he smiled. After the Sanctum of Wisdom and Fun the after-party audience gathered around the bar at Pilgrim Terrace's indulging their urges to spout Mudada's chorus.
It was much the same at the end of the Soca Brigade on Friday. Even the emcees got into the act. Radio jock and former calypso king Ras Regg took the microphone and warmed the crowd by playfully jostling the artist off stage, singing, "Mudada go home! Mudada go home! Mudada go home and leave the emcee business alone!"
As the tents come and go, the audience grows. Almost twice the number of people who appeared for the Sanctum on the eve of Good Friday came back Friday night, some spilling over from the second tent at Palms Court Harbourview Hotel. They said they had come to see the big belly man.
Hoping to become the next big thing, St. Croix deejay turned St. Thomas radio personality Poppy Popps ripped off his shirt and rubbed his belly to screams of delight from women as he intimated that men of his physique have other attributes as well. "I ain't mean to brag and boast, but a big belly man's got the most!" he sang.
He then invited the audience to a Saturday night boat dance and promised a $1,000 prize to the man with the biggest belly. Some of his lyrics could be heard among cliques of clubgoers matching notes at the end.
"I love the entertainment," former senator Donald "Ducks" Cole said. "Calypso is entertainment, and that is what Carnival is all about."

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