Calypso Season Stutters to a Start and Stop

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Carnival

Monday, 20 June 2011 02:30

By Colin Sampson

Antigua St John's - The 81 calypsonians who eventually registered to compete for the Calypso Monarch crown on July 31 are beside themselves with frustration as in what seems to be a new tradition calypso tents are struggling to open at the last minute.

And again, as in 2010, the few tents that do manage to open will do so more or less to provide venues for the Quarterfinals and Semifinals.

The series of Quarterfinal and Semifinal competitions that will winnow the field down to the 11 challengers who will face King De Bear on July 31 will kick off on July 9 and end on July 18. Swallow’s Calypso Pepperpot opened on Saturday 18, allowing for a maximum of three appearances before the first Quarterfinal bout.

Golden Eye is due to open on Saturday 25, permitting two shows before serving as the venue for the initial Quarterfinal show. The Masters Calypso Revue will not open this season.

In what amounts to a snub, the head honchos of the CDC – although invited in writing with adequate notice – failed to turn up for the May 28 opening night of the Concerned Calypso Promotions Revue. Economics forced the temporary suspension of the CCP Revue, which however returns to the scene at King’s Casino on Saturday June 25, moving to Bobby’s Beach Bar at Darkwood on Sunday 26.

Adverse economic conditions have hit the 2011 Carnival hard. Calypsonians and tents are feeling the pinch, as sponsorship has dried up. Hard pressed, the beleaguered business sector has simply not been able to provide the levels of support seen in better times.

The crunch is being felt even at the traditionally high end of the festival: to date, the CDC has not been able to land a single sponsor for the six young women aspiring to be crowned Queen of Carnival 2011. Nor is there any indication that statutory bodies and government ministries are in any position to pick up the slack. The accountant general’s recent admission that “cash flow problems” were behind the late payment of some May salaries does not augur well.

One major sponsor which in better days provided spectacular weight to the CDC’s prize list announced this year that it is abandoning its former policy of making direct contributions to the CDC. Antigua Motors is throwing its support behind Collin “Wanga” Martin’s continuing efforts to maintain the tradition of “building” mas’. This will allow Revellers Mas’ Troupe, a perennial winner, to continue bucking the trend toward minimal “no construction required” party costumes.


Undeterred by all of this, one aspiring calypsonian - none other than Minister of Culture Eleston "Nambalumba Nambalala" Adams, is vigorously pursuing his own ambitions. Adams is determined to make his personal mark on the kaiso scene – and perhaps just accidentally as an added bonus increase his exposure as a politician.

The Minister of Carnival has diverted a considerable amount of the energy that might have been expended in salvaging the 2011 season to writing, rehearsing, recording, and performing his portfolio of songs. “Dr Paul”, as he styles himself, is prominent on the roster of artists scheduled to appear at the Goldeneye tent.

Meanwhile, the CDC, masqueraders, calypsonians, soca artists, and Carnival aficionados alike all wait anxiously to see how the 2011 festival eventually turns out.

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