An estimated $1.5 million is not enough to stage the Calypso and Extempo Monarch competitions which are in danger of being cancelled.
The preliminary round of the Calypso Monarch competition has been postponed until further notice.
Seventy-two calypsonians registered to participate in the competition, the finals of which were expected to take place on February 27 during Dimanche Gras at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain.
The preliminaries were expected to take place on Friday and Saturday but Friday’s round was stopped less than 15 singers in, while Saturday’s round was cancelled.
Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organisation (TUCO) acting president Ainsley King told Sunday Newsday the decision was made after he met with the National Carnival Committee (NCC) on Friday.
He said TUCO was told to plan the competitions and tents and they would be facilitated. Later it was allocated $1.5 million but the money was not enough despite the organisation doing everything it could to reduce expenditure.
“I was in a meeting with the NCC. We expected they were going to treat with the situation but they came back into the meeting saying, ‘This is what it was.’ So those same ones who put all these Carnival plans forward came back to say it can’t work, that we should make the impossible possible. But if it can’t work, it can’t work.
“We decided to stop and postpone the prelims so we could continue negotiations and declare that we could move forward with the assurance that we could cover the expenses of prizes and all the events.”
After stopping the prelims on Friday, the TUCO general council held a Zoom meeting on Saturday morning. King said efforts were being made to see if the organisation could source funds to make the competition happen.
Another general council meeting will be held on Monday, before the extempo preliminaries, where a decision would be made on the way forward for both competitions.
In 2020, the Calypso Monarch prize was $800,000, and in previous years it was $1 million. The Extempo Monarch prize was $200,000.
At the opening of the Klassic Ruso Tent at Queen’s Hall, Port of Spain on Friday night, reigning extempo monarch Brian London made a last-minute change to his performance where he sang an old song, ‘’Ah Calypsonian” instead of the new “Strain.”
“I can’t say much because I too am waiting, but earlier today (Friday) the calypso preliminaries at the Queen’s Park Savannah was abruptly ended after about ten singers auditioned. So far, we are hearing that there won’t be a competition again. My concern is that if I sing my new song and there isn’t a competition, I won’t be able to sing it again next year. The rules of the competition state that if you make a song public at the tent, you won’t be able to sing it in a competition in any other year after that. So I had to make a business decision not to sing the new song.”
However, in an interview with i95.5 fm NCC chairman Winston “Gypsy” Peters insisted there would be Calypso Monarch preliminaries, semifinals and the finals at Dimanc
