De Bear Ready for Leewards Kaiso Competition

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Friday, 10 August 2012 02:30

By caribarena news

Antigua St. John's - Calypso Monarch Keithroy "De Bear" Morson is confident he can walk away with the Leeward Islands crown, less than a week after pulling off a three-peat victory here.

De Bear left Antigua & Barbuda on Thursday morning to prepare for Saturday night's competition that will see him and seven others try to dethrone The Mighty Splinter of Anguilla.
 
He will be performing two songs about regional development – ‘Take Your Place’, which helped earn him the local crown; and ‘Back to Basics’, which advises the Leeward Islands to turn from the "disastrous course" member countries are on.
 
"The fact is that I feel that Antigua has, I think, if not the highest then one of the highest standards of calypso in the region. Going into that competition with that asset gives me an advantage, so I think my chance of winning the competition or being in the top three is very high. It's just a matter of execution and living it up to the judges," he said prior to his departure.
 
"I know I have a lot of fans in Anguilla and I hope the CDC sends down persons so I can receive more support."
 
De Bear stirred controversy last year when he took issue with the use of all local adjudicators in the competition, saying that the judging was questionable. He also raised concerns about the perceived bias of the emcee.
 
The committee organising the show has sought to stem such criticisms this year by announcing well-known Trinidad & Tobago personality Tommy Joseph as the emcee, and said two judges from St. Vincent, one from Dominica and two from the host country will be used.
 

Morson said he is still not comfortable with the situation but is willing to try out the changes.
 
"My concerns are still there because they have not cleaned up the system 100 per cent. They made a promise that they would have other judges and I hope they keep it. I'm not going to put a damper on the show. I'll see how it goes," he said.
 
De Bear has competed in the show four times since 2007 but only won the title once. He was second runner-up last year.
 
Apart from Anguilla and Antigua & Barbuda, organisers said the other competitors will come from St. Martin, St. Maarten, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, the US Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.
 
The cash prizes are EC$10,000 for first place, EC$5,000 for second and EC $3,000 for the third place winner.
 
The competition, now into its 16th year, would be held at the Landsome Bowl from 8 pm with Trinidad's Austin "Super Blue" Lyons as the headliner.
 
This is the penultimate event for Anguilla's carnival.

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