The Rounds - August 6, 2006

Good evening soca lovers I’m nurse Karen and these are Doctor Jay’s Rounds for Toronto Caribbean Carnival 2006.
The parade of the bands has come and gone for another year…and thanks to all of you who took part in the festivities, it looks like we’ll be facing road repairs on the lakeshore fuh de rest of de Summer. Yesterday’s crowd was estimated at 1.2 million people dancing in hot Canadian sun…which for your reference is slightly larger than the entire population of Trinidad and Tobago.
Seems to me that many DJs opted for slower paced tunes…all which helped thousands of American tourists get the very best sexy waist video footage to carry home for their friends. Glad to see allyuh wuking together…
We call this segment Dr. Jay’s rounds…because is me who helps de good Dr. Jay check up on all his appointments and make sure the patients in his care get the necessary musical attention. On Friday, your Soca Prince was live on MTV in the company of soca music’s hottest couple Bunji and Faye-Ann who are set to be married by the end of the year. There was also a live performance from Trinidad’s reigning international soca monarch…Mr. Shurwayne Winchester. He performed “don’t stop”. That’s the chune that won him the Grrrrooooovy Soca Monarch title.
I have to say, I was proud to see soca music having it’s day on the Canadian small screen. But, I saw a couple of things that I would be remiss not to mention. When Shurwayne took the stage…he had a few back up dancers who were arbitrarily selected from the audience (Clearly!!) Ladies, I’m happy to see that you had a nice time…but next time you get an offer like that. You might want to consider what it does to one’s reputation when you expose the fact that dancing is not your forté on National TV. Allyuh know who allyuh are. Easy nah people, I’m not hatin’ on de girls…remember, I’m your nurse…it’s MY JOB to make you betta!!!
Thursday was the King and Queen of the bands competition and Carnival Nationz scored big. This is only their second year bringing mas…so I have to give credit where credit is due to the Eustaces for walking away with the top prize in three of four categories.
Pan Alive was next on the docket. Dr. Jay scooted over there after his appearance on MTV to host the steelpan show. Every year…Afropan is the favoured to take it! Their record speaks for itself. They’ve won 26 times in the last 33 years…but this year was not one of them. Pan Fantasy successfully defended their 2005 title…winning in both the traditional and bomb song categories. So congrats to Al Foster and all the musicians of Pan Fantasy. Congrats to Earl La Pierre and Afropan too…because I almost collapsed from heat stroke after jamming with them on the road yesterday.
Now that I mention it, there’s a few times I ALMOST collapsed this weekend. Don’t get me wrong. I like to get my money’s worth as much as de next nurse, but 8 hours of fete…is murderrrr! I passed through the j’ouvert fete at afterlife Saturday morning…just long enough to see a host of people literally wet and melting from performances from soca sensations like Adrian Dutchin, Maxamus Dan and Bomani…then, I passed out at home.
Saturday evening, after we done flatten de road…it was another all night party at Alliance Den. Jamesy P was pushing it all de way till 5 in the morning. Pushing de soca vibes…get your mind out of the gutter. I had to kick off my shoes and dance around till my foot bottom was blacker than roast breadfruit.
I know you were expecting to hear who won band of the year and road march and ting. But to tell you the truth, I have no idea.
I just rolled out of bed.
I’m nurse Karen and those are Dr. Jay’s Rounds for Caribana 2006. Send me your comments at soca@ FLOW 935 DOT COM. Now for someone who’s really working non-stop. Back to de docta!