The Rounds: Soca Awards blunders leave a sour taste for Kititians

Good evening soca lovers,

I'm Nurse Karen and these are Dr. Jay's Rounds. This is a weekend of celebration all over the region. Today St. Lucia joins Guadeloupe; Martinique; Dominica;Haiti and the entire Creole speaking world in the observance of International Creole Day. It's a time of food, music, and a culture rooted in a shared history of African ancestry and colonization by the French. Thus marks the beginning of Dominica's 2008 World Creole Music Festival. Some of Toronto's Dominican DJs like Blackberry Soundcrew and DJ Kold Fusion made the trip to get in on the action. The celebration is two-fold, as it also marks the nation's 30th anniversary of independence from British Rule.

Naturally, I can't leave out my Vincy posse. Tomorrow marks 29 years of independence for St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Vincies here in Toronto marked the occasion with a slew of events, most notably the annual SVG Association Independence Dinner Dance, and a concert by Vincy Soca Legend Alston Becket Cyrus. It's beautiful to see Caribbean people celebrating our culture and achievements...

If you remember last week's rounds, there was a gathering down in St. Kitts that was doing just that. Yes children, I'm talking about the International Soca Awards. I promised you the results, and I intend to make good on my promise...but according to quite a few people in St. Kitts last weekend, the Soca Awards Organization failed to follow through with a few promises of their own.

Here goes...the night before the show, a big all-white party was scheduled. Tickets sold for $25 EC and hundred of patrons got decked out for a show featuring performances from Tizzy, Zoelah and Juliette Mills. The concert ended up being a DJ party, when an announcement was made at 2 am that the artists would not be appearing due to inclement weather. Granted there was a lot of rain that week, but in a country where every flight is on the ground by 10 pm, I would think that somebody knew that none of the acts were even in St. Kitts long before they bothered to tell the expectant crowd.

So, your nurse did a little extra research, only to find out that one act, namely Tizzy, had not even been booked for that show and was not planning to be at the awards ceremony the next day either. Tisk tisk Soca Awards!

Well, sadly...that's not all. Former Kititian Calypso King Ellie Matt was inducted into the International Soca Awards Hall of Fame this year. However, he wasn't there to bask in the glory...through no fault of his own, I might add. He was contacted by the Director and Entertainment Manager regarding travel arrangements, and was promised an airline ticket and acommodations at the St Kitts Marriot. Ellie Matt is undergoing medical treatment in the United States and made special arrangments to be able to travel. So, two weeks prior to the show, he calls her back because he still didn't know what was going on. Would you know it, no one even returned his call.

Well, I believe in keeping my word...so lemme not stall.
iSA results it is! The list is long so, just a few highlights, and for the rest you've got to check Nurse Karen Etc:

Lehwe start local...

Congratulations to Toronto-Lime dot com for winning Favorite Soca Information Website, every year since the category was created.

Kerwin Du Bois, walked away as Soca Producer of the year. time to raise your rates papa!

It was also a big night for Studio 758 out of St. Lucia, with 5 awards. Ricky T snatched Favorite Uptempo Soca Male, Best Soca Collaboration Remin for for Pressure Boom with Mr. Vegas. And Kudos go to his production team Penn and Ace for their honours, Best Soca Compilation Riddim ---for the lehgo me riddim and Best Soca Roadmix for pressure boom. AS if that weren't enough de chune tied Faye-Ann Lyons' Get On, for Soca Song of the Year. Now, I bet you can't wait to see that Ricky T perform that big tune on Saturday at Soca or Die 9.

Machel cleaned up quite a few major categories, and I'm certain that Toronto voters had something to do with Problem Child and Zoelah each earning accolades as best new artist. Congrats all winners and nominees!

I'm Nurse Karen and those were Dr. Jay's Rounds. Please leave me your comments online at the Nurse Karen Etc blog at triple w dot mustard seeds dot net. And don't forget to grab your podcast of the rounds at soca therapy dot com. Now back to de docta..