Soca artistes will have a new contender vying for the coveted title in this year"s Soca Monarch and Kaisosoca Monarch competitions.

Newcomer Andrew "Soca Sterling" Walham who is from England promises strong competition with his hit songs, "Bum Bum Time" and "Best in Me". It will not only be a first time for the artiste but also the first "White" person to enter such competition on the island.

"Soca Sterling's" songs were written by Brian Griffith after last year"s Carnival.

Griffith said that over the years he noticed that the upper class folks in the society do not visit the various Calypso/Soca tents, and deliberately decided to write a song this year and look for someone specifically from within the Lance Aux Epines area to sing it.He hopes that the move would encourage that strata in society to support the culture more.

According to Griffith, he got lucky when he met Walham at a coffee shop that he frequents on the island. The meeting took place about two years ago but Griffith did not realise that the Briton was interested in the artform.

He said that one day the two struck up a conversation, resulting in Griffith telling "Soca Sterling" that he had a song that he very much wanted him to sing. The Briton agreed and within a few months he was practicing it at Ocean View Studio in Brizan, St. George"s.

In listening to "Soca Sterling" for the very first time, Griffith said that he was totally blown away by what he heard. "I saw his mouth moving but I still didn"t believe that it was a white person singing the song," he noted, adding that others who heard the music for the first time formed the impression that it was just another Grenadian.

"Soca Sterling" gave his first public performance last week aboard the Rhum Runner on a cruise and the feedback received from persons in attendance was tremendous. "Soca Sterling" who is by profession, a Marketing Manager and Dive Instructor with Devotion 2 Ocean Scuba Centre, has been instrumental in the clean up campaign of the Carenage water following the passage of Hurricanes Ivan and Emily.

The newcomer to soca music told Grenada Today that he is not trying to move in on anyone"s ground. He said that he has been living in Grenada for the past three years enjoying the island's culture and that taking this bold initiative is something he always dreamt of doing.

He spoke of being excited and can't wait to showcase his new-found talent to the Grenadian people, although he was a bit nervous about the response he will receive.

According to "Soca Sterling", so far he feels nothing but love from everyone who heard his song during the Rhum Runner cruise. He jokingly said that he is working on his performance for the soca monarch competition.

"Soca Sterling" will be singing this season with the Kaiso Bards tent.