Beau Beau head of pack
for Calypso King finals
~ 10 calypsonians selected via elimination round ~
PHILIPSBURG--The fate the calypsonians competing for the title of St. Maarten Carnival 2008 Calypso King was decided last night when ten were chosen during last night’s Calypso Eliminations for the Calypso Finals to be held on Sunday.
Leading the pack with 246 points was Leroy “King Beau Beau” Brooks who was crowned King of Kings during the From US II You: King of Kings Calypso competition held last Friday. He recited the same hit that gave him his title on Friday: “Fight,” which reflected on Dutch Member of Parliament Hero Brinkman’s comments in early January that St. Maarten was corrupt and should be sold on the Internet for US $1.
In second place was eight-time Calypso King Clement “Kaiso Brat” Richards with 220 points for his song titled “For we Country” that called on St. Maarteners to get on board and do what needs to be done to become a model nation.
Andrew “Baker Junior” Richardson secured the third spot in the competition with 219 points for his song “Man of Confusion,” an attack on Commissioner Louie Laveist highlighting hearsay about this “man of action.”
Alberto “Fish the Mega Boss” Arrindell, in fourth place with 215 points, sang his song “My Country,” which called on foreign investors to have respect for indigenous St. Maarteners.
Tying with Fish in fourth place was Ricky “Phox” Bertie, also with 215 points for his song “Point of no return,” which reflected on the state of concerns on the island.
Five-time Road March King Timothy “King Timo” van Heyningen placed fifth with 213 points, singing a song titled “The Status” that called on local authorities to stop the “politricking” and unite to achieve separate status devoid corruption.
Marvin “King Stunky” Dollison in sixth place with 210 points paid tribute to the late Vance James Jr. through his tune titled “An Icon Gone.”
Erno “Young Dow” York secured the seventh spot in the competition with 206 points for his song “Volcano.” The handful of attendees at the event seemed to really enjoy the lyrics to this tune, which proposed that when the pot of rumours on local officials finally burst, a volcano would erupt and lava would destroy even “Theo’s palm trees.”
Elias “Mighty Magic” Rampersad in eighth place accumulated 202 points for his song titled “Woman nowadays” suggesting that all women do nowadays is “sauce.”
Securing the final spot in the competition with 176 points was Carlye “Mighty Kalix” Rogers with his song “Believe in Yourself,” also a tribute to the late Vance James Jr.
“King Jacko” and Fernando “Mighty Cat” Thewet, who would have brought the total to 15 contestants in the elimination, were no shows for unknown reasons. The other three contenders who did not make the final 10 were Wayne “Pepper” Arrindell, Avery “D’Monitor” Caines and Bernardo “Mighty Chipman” Richardson.
MC for the night was Philosopher of Comedy Fernando Clark and providing backup music for the contenders was the band The Orchestra.
Judging the competition were musician Oscar Brown, accountant Michael Fedrick and head judge Esther David-Roach, who tallied their points based on lyrical content, melody, originality, rendition, performance and presentation, with a possible 100 points per judge.
