Showing posts with label Trinidad Carnival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trinidad Carnival. Show all posts

Booster Shot: 2011 bMobile International Soca Monarch Finalists & Play Whe Groovy Soca Monarch Finalists

>> Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Okay Trinidad....

Below is your sneak peak at the final list of competitors for Trinidad Soca Monarch, Friday, March 4, 2011


Congrats and good luck to all who made it!



POWER:
Bunji Garlin
Destra
Fay-Ann Lyons

Iwer George
JW & Blaze
Machel Montano HD
Michelle Xavier
Nadia Batson / Patrice Roberts
Ravi B & Nisha B
Shal Marshall
Tallpree



GROOVY:
All Rounder
Benjai
Blaxx

Cassi
Chucky
Denise Belfon
Destra
Jahmoun
Kes Dieffenthaller
Kerwin Du Bois
Megan
Patrice Roberts 
Shurwayne Winchester
Yankee Boy & Patch

Please note, this list does not contain the list of persons of regional soca monarch competitions who by-passed the semi-final round.

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Booster Shot: 2011 Play Whe Groovy Soca Monarch Semi-Finalists

>> Wednesday, February 2, 2011

trinidad_tobago

These are the artists who made the cut for the Groovy Soca Monarch Semis to be held on Sunday, February 13th at the Arima Velodrome in Trinidad.

Source: Caribbean Prestige Foundation
www.socamonarch.net




GROOVY CATEGORY
NAME
1 Lawrence Adams
2 Nadia Batson
3 Denise Belfon
4 Ravi Bissambhar
5 Terrin Callendar
6 Judelyn Chitan
7 Shivonne Churche
8 Marvin Davis
Kes Dieffenthaller
10 Ricardo Drue
11 Kerwin Du Bois
12 Joel Fevek
13 Nnika Francis
14 Destra Garcia
15 Roderick Gordon
16 Kevon Heath
17 Anthony Hendrickson
18 Darryl Henry
19 Rodney Le Blanc
20 Stevenson Marshall
21 Devon Martin
22 Jahrnoun Mendoza
23 Orlando Octave
24 Patrice Roberts
25 Dale Rudder
26 Kimba Sorzano
27 Dexter Stewart
28 Cassiano Sylvester
29 Megan Walrond
SOBRIQUET
Mr. Renzo
Nadia Batson
Saucy Wow
RaviB
Super Jigga TC
Sugar Jay
Lil Bitts
Swappi
Kes
Ricardo Drue
Kerwin Du Bois
Zan
Nnika Francis
Destra
Chucky
Yankee Boy & Patch
All Rounder
Farmer Nappy
Benjai
Shal Marshall
Lyrikal
Jahrnoun
Orlando Octave
Patrice Roberts
Mr. Dale
Kimba Sorzano
Blaxx
Cassi
Megan



Always,

Nurse Karen

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2011 bMobile International Soca Monarch Semi-Finalists

Hey All,

I'm sure you've heard the news out of Toronto today.  Dr. Jay's "Soca Therapy" radio program was canceled after ten years on the air. Since December 2005, I contributed a segment called "The Rounds".  And that my friends is why and when I was first given the name Nurse Karen by Dr. Jay.  Thanks for the love, encouragement and faithful support since the beginning.  Flow 93.5 FM will not be the same. But, trust me this is not the end. When it comes to the brilliance, creativity and resilience of Caribbean people, the show must go on!

This blog has been on hiatus for a few months due to some major events in my personal life, and today's news turned out to be the motivation I needed to get back in the saddle to provide you reliable information it can be hard to find else where.

trinidad_tobagoWithout further delay, here are your 2011 Trinidad Power Soca Semi Finalists:

Source: www.socamonarch.net




POWER CATEGORY
NAME
1 Ian Alvarez
2 Erphaan Alves
3 Edwin Ayoung
4 Nadia Baton / Patrice Roberts
5 Ravi Bissambhar
6 Keon Boodosingh / Greg Henry
7 Wilt Cambridge
8 Kevin Celestine
9 Shivonne Churche
10 Hilton Dalzell [r
11 Destra Garcia
12 Neil George
13 Wesley Hoyte
14 Imij & Co fj Michelle Xavier
15 Roger Joseph
16 Fay- Ann Lyons
17 Terri Lyons
18 Stevenson Marshall
19 Konris Maynard
20 Machel Montano
21 Denyse Plummer
22 Tony Prescott
23 Raeon Primus
24 Adana Roberts
25 Victor St. Louis
26 Dexter Stewart
27 Keith Sutherland
28 Megan Walrond
29 Shurwayne Winchester
SOBRIQUET
Bunji Garlin
Erphaan Alves
Crazy
Nadia / Patrice
RaviB
Zuki & Tim Tim
Tallpree
Kevin Celestine
Lil Bits
Ghetto Flex
Destra
Iwer (The Boss)
C'Donia
lmij & Co - Michelle Xavier
Patch
Fay- Ann Lyons
Terri Lyons
Shal Marshall
King Konris
Machel Montano HD
Denyse Plummer
Tony Prescott
Madd Zart
Princess Adana
Pelf
Blaxx
Ajala
Megan
Shurwayne Winchester

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On De Scene: Reelest8. The beginning.

>> Tuesday, July 13, 2010





Hi guys. Is ah real long time ah eh report tuh allyuh, but allyuh know ah does only drop in when ah ha ting tuh talk bout rite.

Last Saturday, 10th July, ah had de pleasure of hosting de launch ah de newest band in Trinidad & Tobago, Reelest8. (Now allyuh cud play wit dah name all allyuh like buh I feeling it. After hearing dem ah cud honestly say ah feeling de 8 too. (See de name play start (((grins))).



Reelest8 consists of: Bandleader/Producer/Musical Director, Gordon Samuels; Drummer, Kareem Romain; Lead guitarist, Steve Smith; Bassist, Cornelious Francis; Keyboardist, Dale Dolly; Lead Vocalist, Heaven ‘Snakey’ Charles; Female Vocalist, Keisha Stewart; Vocalist, Kenneth 'Kenny' Richards; Sound Engineers, Alvin Dempster and Cerf Stewart.



According to their facebook page (which ah encourage allyuh to join): “Reelest8 is a blend of fresh faces and soca veterans. The foundation of the band is the eight core musicians from the band formerly known as Surface, which was a staple of the soca scene for the last decade. While Reelest8 has its sights set on the long-term, there are fetes they plan to accomplish in the short term. The band will officially launch at Caribana in Toronto, Canada, this July. The band also has bookings in Dubai, London, Miami and Trinidad”. Nice one wid de guys dey man, management: (Kenson King (1-868-462-4757), Keisha ALmorales (1-868-786-2671) and Karen Lowery (1-868-351-7108) can all be contacted to book the band), wukking!



DE BEGINNING: It was ah real nice intimate setting at La casa De Ibiza, with family, friends, fellow artistes and supporters. Now allyuh mus be wondering how dey ha supporters ahready if dey now launching. Stick wid meh nah, is veterans we dealing wid ah say. Some of them stamp dey name in bands like Atlantik, Karibbean Rage, Byron Lee, 3 Veni, even a rock band “5 miles to midnite”, and of course Surface.



Ah announced de band and came off stage to “gape”. Wen Heaven (who I know as Snakey) belted out de first bars of Jah Cure’s Unconditional love, how yuh does say it? He had meh at hello! Snakey has improved drastically, or maybe ah just never hear him wid dem kinda styles, buh he immediately had us ladies eating outa he han wid de emotions he conveyed. His cover of Unconditional love was by far de reelest (pun intended) ah hear so far. He take full control ah de stage and audience, without overdoing it. He set de pace.



Meh girl Keisha Stewart had one up on Rhianna cause ah never ever see Rhi-Rhi perform she own song Rude Boy like dat! Keisha had de right blend of sex appeal, class, and “diva-ish-ness”. She made some moves she must have picked up on one of her many trips abroad, (she has worked in places me eh even reach yet, Malaysia and ting yuh know), cause ah never see Keisha move so before! She looked great. Vocally, she was on POINT



Kenny (ah sorry buh allyuh know ah does keep it real)


Ah tink 2011 cud be de year ah de “underground" unappreciated, Soca artistes cause boy, de guest artistes!!! Well everybody know Terri Lyons, if yuh doh know she yet, 2011!!! All ah go say is if dey (re:de mafia) give Terri room, Terri bringing home even more dan she sister Fayanne bring home.



Buffy! Buffy! Buffy and she antics. She was a pleasant surprise. Whole Carnival ah hearing de tune “man wine up on anything, woman wine up on anything.” Ah really didn’t feel de song eh. My thought was, “wha ish is dat?”. After seeing her perform, my lorsh! I now rate it as one of de better tunes for de past season. An energetic, strong, FULL ON PERFORMANCE! I lovessss her!



Emm em *clears throat*. Ah cud now do de “Swappi”. In my introduction tuh de band, ah happen tuh mention dat ah wanted tuh learn Swappi’s dance. Who tell meh say so? During his performance, Swappi call meh out tuh learn his dance, which ah now realize is de Soca version ah one ah de late great MJ’s. Again, true artiste, rite dong tuh he Soca MJ all white kit (which included white sun glases).



Reelest8 repertoire was de rite mix ah songs, de rite length and come September when de have de official Trinbago launch, AH GO BE DEY! De nite was best!

So if yuh from TO, listen out fuh Reelest8 (soon tuh release 3 tracks). Go out & support dem, it go be best!



Only two tings spoil de nite. One is after all de pictures and videos ah take, ah still eh learn de upload from de BB tuh de blog yet. Steupes (@ mehself). Wat is de point of having de ting if ah cah (refuse tuh take time tuh) learn it? My apologies. De oda is meh girl Rochell K Noel wasn't dey fuh de experience, ah cuda well do wid meh wuk up partner. Buh all kicks aside, de lady ha she priorities straight so ah cah complain. AH STILL MISS YUH ROCHEEEY!



Yes guys, it's really been ah while buh, I is still yuh Keeping it real Trinibagonian.


So wha if some oceans divide us, ah still maintain MUSIC WILL UNITE US!

Blessings and miracles,

Knyxx...

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The Rounds: Trini carnival highs and lows...

>> Monday, February 22, 2010

Originally aired on Flow 93.5 FM's Soca Therapy with Dr Jay de Soca Prince, Sunday, 21st February at 6:45 pm.

Good evening soca lovers, I’m Nurse Karen and these are Dr. Jay’s Rounds. We’re baaa-aack! I know Dr. Jay told you that I wouldn’t be in Trinidad for Carnival. But what can I say? Things change. The carnival bug ketch me and I found myself front and centre in the middle of the action.

If you’ve never been to carnival in the Caribbean, it’s definitely something you should try to make happen. If you want to see the artistry, camaraderie, ingenuity and style of our culture come alive, Carnival is one of the best ways to experience it. While in Trinidad, I hit a couple of fetes, checked out the Soca Monarch Finals...and naturally...I just had to hit the beach too. One of the first parties I got to take in was the PNM fete. The People’s National Movement is one of Trinidad’s major political parties...no pun intended! Each year, they sponsor a big soca show that is actually attended by T&T Prime Minister, Patrick Manning. Hear me...That would be kinda like, Steven Harper inviting the public wine and get on to the top bands at 24 Sussex Drive. Only in the West Indies, I tell yuh.

That night, it became pretty clear that two song written and produced by Machel’s musical director, Kernal Roberts were about to rule the Carnival. I’m talking about Palance by JW and Blaze, and Police in de Session by Shal Marshall and Screws.

Shal Marshall performing at Soca Monarch

 The next night I went to Eyes Wide Shut. If you haven’t heard already...Jamaican dancehall phenomenon Serani was booked as a guest act. I’m sure the promoters thought it was a great idea, but when all of the soca acts had left the stage for the night, the crowd was far from impressed that a dancehall act would be scheduled to close out a major carnival week fete, especially one who had publicly criticized the soca genre in the media early last year. The result? A resounding...BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Poor Serani only asked the ladies to Make Some Noise.... but both men and ladies joined forces to shame the man off stage. Score one for soca. Score zero for international relations. Heh!

As for Soca Monarch! What a night. Personally, that’s my favourite event on the T&T Carnival Calendar...and just so happens to be the most important night of the year for soca. I was so close to the stage. I could literally feel the fireworks burning my nose hairs. Sad to say, Fay Ann Lyons lost her titles in both categories and had to settle for second place behind Shurwayne Winchester in Groovy and ahead of Rikki Jai and Patrice Roberts.

In the Power Category poor Fay-Fay took a silver medal there too. In fourth was Tallpree with Wicked Jab. Shal and Screw placed 3rd....and in first were none of other than JW and Blaze with Palance.


Utter Madness you should have seen the crowd get on for those fellas. Honorable mention goes to Toronto’s own Kerwin Du Bois whose Groovy performance of “Pavement” with Farmer Nappy was the first to send the crowd into a frenzy. It was like a rock concert in there.
Farmer Nappy getting as close as possible to the crowd

So much to tell, but precious time in short....the winning streak continued to till carnival Tuesday for Palance. That’s the new T&T Roadmarch, beating out “True Lies” and “No Behaviour” with more than 400 plays at judging points. So we are talking about a roadmarch win by the widest margin in Trinidad Carnival History.

Before I go, I have to tell you one more thing. I’m sure you rememeber me telling you that Machel would not be performing anywhere during the carnival season. And of course Destra just had a baby...so she was missing in action too. Well, great news...the hiatus is over. On Thursday, Machel Montano gave a live performance in Port of Spain alongside visiting R&B star, Beyonce Knowles. During his set, he surprised the crowd by performing 2003 hit, “It’s Carnival” with Destra Garcia in her first post pregnancy appearance. And when Beyonce hit the stage, imagine the shock when she burst into her own rendition of the 2010 Roadmarch, “Palance”. By all accounts the concert was money well spent...and it makes me feel happy to see that Miss B, paid a lil respect to the local scene.

I’m Nurse Karen and those were Dr. Jay’s Rounds for more detail on everything mentioned today, Check me out online on the Nurse Karen Etc blog at Nurse dash Karen dot com....or follow me on Twitter. Now...back to de docta!

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Booster Shot: JW and Blaze obliterate all competition for 2010 Trinidad Roadmarch

>> Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Let me waste no time.  I think the numbers speak for themselves. I feel sorry for the judges that had to listen to ONE song for the WHOLE day yesterday.  Congrats to JW and Blaze for totally dominating Carnival 2K10!

The numbers reflect how many times each song was played at the various judging points:


1
JW and Blaze
Palance
417


2
Faye Ann Lyons Alvarez
True Lies
40


3
Machel Montano
No Behavior
11

Love and Soca,

Nurse Karen

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Booster Shot: Text to support your favourite artists at International Soca Monarch!

>> Friday, February 12, 2010


Tonight is the big night that I have been hyping up like a mad woman for who knows how long.  I am here in Trinidad, mostly for tonight's big show.  It is the biggest and best celebration of soca music on the calendar!

Must admit, I've lost a little bit of my hype seeing that I actually had to pay a hell of a lot of money for my media pass.  But I do this for you, so wha you go do?  Oh yeah, this time around I'm also doing it for The Caribbean Camera in Toronto, The Searchlight in St. Vincent, and possibly to other international publications I'm not able to disclose as yet.  Allyuh tink is nothing but fete, but is wuk  I here wukking.

If you want to play a part in supporting the artists tonight, I've provided the complete list of text codes.  All you have to do is choose any of the codes listed below and send them to the numbers provided.  The top vote getter will win title of "Peoples' Choice" which has the added benefit of a cash prize for the artist.  So what do you say?  Time to support!

The lines are open from 8 pm to 3 am, and you can text as often as you like.

Check the info below for details:


Bmobile Blackberry International Soca Monarch & Play Whe Groovy Soca Monarch Competitions 2010
Bmobile blackberry international soca monarch &
Play whe groovy soca monarch competitions 2010
Queen’s park oval
Friday, 12th february 2010

Soca fans in trinidad and tobago, st. Vincent, grenada, antigua and barbuda, dominica, barbados, the us and canada have a fantastic opportunity to vote for their preferred soca artiste via sms text messaging in the final stage of the bmobile blackberry international soca monarch competition and the play whe groovy soca monarch competition 2010.

The sms text messaging platforms would be as follows:
 Trinidad and tobago - tstt
 The caribbean – lime
 The us & canada – all major carriers

Soca fans can text the artistes key codes to:
 7622 (in trinidad and tobago and the caribbean)
 78247 (in the us & canada)
Artistes - Text Codes
POWER CATEGORYGROOVY CATEGORY
1. Fayann LyonsFAY1. Fayann LyonsFAL
2. Blaze & JWBJW2. Kerwin Du BoisKDB
3. Farmer NappyFNP3. Shurwayne WinchesterSHW
4. BlaxxBLX4. Patrice RobertsPAR
5. TallpreeTPR5. ChuckyCKY
6. Shal Marshall and ScrewsSMS6. Rikki JaiRJI
7. Super Jigga TCJTC7. ZoelahZOE
8. KMC and Ronnie Mc IntoshKMI8. KMCKMC
9. Iwer GeorgeIWG9. Nnika FrancisNNF
10. Daddy Chess (Dominica)DAC10. Little BitsLBT
11. Tian WinterTIN11. Ainsley KingAIK
12. Skinny Fabulous (St. Vincent)SKF12. TC (Barbados)TC
13. Mr. Killa (Grenada)MRK13. Metro (Synergy Soca Star)MET


Love and Soca,

Nurse Karen

P.S. I know everybody and they bruddah looking for a free online stream to watch. Unfortunately, there is no official one I can give you. BUT...this is 2010. Do yourself a favour and check out sites like USTREAM.COM and JUSTIN.TV . I bet you the price of my press pass some local soca fan will be pointing a webcam at their tv and streaming de show for allyuh.

Not ideal, but still and idea. Have a great night!

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