The Rounds: Dominica, Trinidad, Guyana Soca Monarch. Oh My!!!

Good evening soca lovers, I'm Nurse Karen and these are Dr. Jay's Rounds. Being the day after Valentine's Day, I'd like to take a moment to share one thing I truly love. (I'm sure Marxman could echo the same sentiment)  We love that Trini Carnival falls in February, while this city is frozen over. That means if you miss me next Sunday, it's because we joined Dr. Jay in Trinidad's lovably hot sun.

In Dominica, soca lovers celebrated Valentine's Day watching 12 competitors do battle for the Soca Monarch Crown. In the end, it was the 2008 defending Soca Monarch Daddy Chess who managed to capture the title once again with a tune called "Ready or Not". Congrats to Daddy Chess! Love that you got love from the fans and judges at home. Last Sunday, he was one of the many artists hoping to impress the international soca monarch judges in Trinidad. But he didn't make it through.

In case you haven't heard, the 23 finalists who will be performing in the International Soca Monarch show in Trinidad were announced early last week. The main event will happen on Friday, February 20 at the Hasley Crawford National Stadium. I have no idea why, but the evening will feature a panel of celebrities who have no expertise in soca music whatsoever, including American film stars Danny Glover and Chris Tucker, plus Trinis: Olympic sprinter Ato Bolden and former Miss Universe, Wendy Fitzwilliam.

Ok, so you wanna know who's in? Fay-Ann and Shurwayne made it to the finals in both groovy and power - while Nadia Batson is in groovy only, although she was a power soca SEMI-finalist too. Toronto's own Kerwin Du Bois will be in the groovy mix come Fantastic Friday, but unfortunately Peter Ram, Red Plastic Bag and Mr. Slaughter will not. For the complete, albeit economical list of 2009 Soca Monarch finalists, visit Nurse Karen Etc at Mustard Seeds dot net.  

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Over in Guyana, their Mashramani Carnival celebrations are off to a slow start due to the economic crisis. So far, carnival related events have suffered poor attendance thanks  low promotion. Organizers are blaming that on fading corporate interest. None the less, the show must go on. The Carib Soca Monarch competition was last night. Check my blog this week for the results!

Now, up to Jamaica for some suprising news. Jamaica Carnival is around the corner on Easter long weekend. However, soca lovers in that country have recently come under attack after the government's recent decision to ban explicit dancehall from the airwaves. Many Jamaicans feel that dancehall was unfairly singled out, while soca music is just as bad if not worse in it's sexual messages. Hey, don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger!

I'm Nurse Karen and those were Dr. Jay's Rounds. If you want to voice out about something you heard me mention. Join me online on the Nurse Karen Etc Blog at Mustard Seeds dot Net. Check back regularly for daily coverage of Trini Carnival 2009! Now back to Jester!