Grenada Today - July 31st, 2004

Member of the Calypso Committee Troy Garvey says there was no ulterior motive behind the failure of five year old Rashead Isaac not making it into the finals of the 2004 Soca Monarch competition.

The Grenada Carnival Committee (GCC) on Monday released the names of the finalists for the show scheduled to take place at the National Stadium, Queen's Park on August 6.

Garvey told reporters that the seven (7) persons who judged last Saturday's semi-finals at Tanteen are knowledgeable about Soca Monarch competitions.

He was responding to questions from reporters as to whether or not pressure from some children's organisations in the country could have resulted in the youngster being omitted from the main event.

The appearance of Rashead, the son of calypsonian Randy Isaac, at the Soca Monarch preliminaries sparked outrage in some quarters in Grenada.

At least one organisation labelled his appearance "a form of child abuse" and urged GCC officials to remove the youngster from the Soca Monarch and place him in a competition with his peers.

These concerned organisations felt that the lateness of the show and the behaviour of soca monarch patrons are not conducive for a five-year old.

Little Rashead placed 6th in the preliminaries while his father came fifth among 156 entries which were submitted to the carnival body.
Garvey pointed out that the judges at last Saturday's semi-finals did what they were accustomed dong and judged the competition based on the performance of each of the artistes.

He pointed out that although the youngster might have had a favourable response on the night of the show from patrons, crowd response is allotted only ten points on the judges' score sheets.

According to Garvey, the Calypso Committee is satisfied with the results which were submitted to them by the judges based on the performances of the 33 artistes at last Saturday's semi-finals.

The Soca Monarch show is judged on Lyrics (25), Melody (30), Performance (25), Originality (10 )and Crowd Response (10) points.
The names of the fourteen artistes that will challenge the reign of Wilt Cambridge (Talpree) for the title on the night of August 9th are: Elimus Gilbert (Inspector), Edson Mitchell (Ajamu), Wayne Aird (General Pepe), Hollis Mapp (Baby killa), Jerry Baptiste (Papa Jerry), Sheldon Douglas, Kenrick Austin (Japs).

The list is completed by Linford Edgar (Tiger T), Steve Theodore, Findley Jeffrey (Scholar), David Peters (Boogie B), Evlyn Alexander (Zingo), Heslyn Flanders (Hess), George Noel (Lazer) and Hayden Thomas (Terror P).