IN T&T IT’S CHUTNEY CHAOS

Bisshambar (Ravi B) is under heavy scrutiny, after his role in inciting violence on Saturday 19th February at the Chutney Monarch Competition final.
On stage performing with his band Karma after the results were announced that he was dethroned by Rikki Jai, Ravi called for the crowd to show their dissatisfaction by throwing anything at the stage. A min riot followed as people rained debris including bottles, atones, shoes, cans at the staged, police had to be
called out to quell the crowd.
Since the incident Ravi B issued several apologies to George Singh (the promoter and producer of the event), his fans and the larger public, explaining that his behavior was motivated by his disappointment at not winning; he admitted that his actions were irresponsible and unprofessional. Ravi B, who was dethroned by Rikki Jai, was expected to hold his first children's show on 5th March in South Trinidad.
However, the show was cancelled by promoters, who expressed their concern for the safety of the children expected to attend. Meanwhile, T&T Housing inister
Roodal Moonilal has condemned Bisshambar’s behavior and is calling on police to probe the incident. Rikki Jai became Chutney S o c a Mo n a r c h for 2011,
with a catchy little song called White Oak and Water; his victory was determined by a public vote. J a i , whose real name is name Samraj Jaimungal, began his
musical career in 1988 and has been consistently involved in music since then. Jaimungal,

who had been Chutney Soca Monarch five times before, is now the country’s latest millionaire; this year’s first prize was TT$2 million.
Jai received over 18,285 votes with Ravi B, last year’s monarch, placing second with 12,000 votes. Third came Vishal ‘KI’ Persad, then Rick Ramoutar and Lalchan ‘Hunter’ Babwah. Several big name and veteran calypsonians are among the ten chosen to challenge reigning Calypso Monarch Kurt Allen for his crown on carnival Saturday night (March 5) . The semi finals took place on Saturday h February26 at Skinner Park San Fernando. As expected many o9f the caslypsonians targeted the government and crime in their compositions. The finals will take place on Sunday 6th March during Dimanche Gras. The winner
will an instant millionaire upon winning TT$ 2 million. They include: Brian London, Dr Hollis Liverpool (Chalkdust), Devon Seales, Rodney Le Blanc (Benjai),
Michael Osuna (Sugar Aloes), Dexter Parsons (Stinger), Joanne Rowley (Tigress), Karene Asche, Winston Rawlins (Cro Cro), Kizzy Ruiz and Tamika Darius
Island Facts : -

* - Mar 2nd 1972 - Michael Manley becomes the fourth Prime Minister of Jamaica
* Mar 3rd 1776 - US commodore Esek Hopkins occupies Nassau Bahamas.

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Two million dollars BRING BACCHANAL to soca arena BIG MONEY, BIG SHOW,
BIG WAR in T&T carnival

FEBRUARY 17

This year Carnival all eyes are on one thing, the big money. Yes! $2 million was promise to the first prize winner for Soca, Calypso and Chutney Monarch and Panorama during the People's Partnership elections campaign last year. The $2 million prize package had generated tremendous interest, towards all the competitions. The Soca Chutney Monarch is using this opportunity to put the genre on an international scene. The 2011 Chutney Soca Monarch finals will take place on February 19 at Skinner Park, San Fernando.
There will be three events running simultaneously in Miami, New York and Toronto where patrons at these venues will be entertained by live artistes and bands and view the Chutney Soca Monarch finals live on large screens. These people will also be able to vote for their choice of winner via text messaging. The finalist for Soca Chutney 2011 are : Terry Gajraj, Rick Ramoutar, Lalchan Babwah The Hunter, Drupatee Ramgoonai Persad, Veeshal K.I. Persad, Vashanie Artie Butkoon, Rikki Jai, Sally Sagram, ANIL BHEEM, Ravi B, NIRMAL Adesh Samaroo, O'neil Bhajman, Neeshan Hitman Prabhu, Kenneth Supersad, BMobile Wild Card - Michael Salloum - Soca Elvis. The heat warms up for the Power Soca Monarch when the acclaimed king of soca Machel Mantano and soca royalty Destra both return this year, causing lots of excitement.
It all began Sat 12, Feb, at one of T&T's biggest party for the season, Licensing Fete when Machel cast aspersions about Destra and her place in the competition. At Soca Monarch semi fina

7TH ls, Destra in turn declared, "The b-tch is back" during her performance of "Anything Goes" and continued by saying "Machel say this is war and it eh have no soca friend in this ring. They wanted bacchanal, well the b-tch is back and is bacchanal they will get. I have a cut-ass for he," Garcia said before asking the crowd who were they backing for the Soca Monarch. Garcia asked, "Is it Machel? Is It Bunji?".
Fay-Ann Lyons sang "Consider It Done" the moment she took the stage, the crowd was in a frenzy with those standing near the stage actually going crazy and shaking of the fence separating them from the front of the stage. At one point Lyons told the audience, "Some of them jump into the competition just so. If any of them feel they could come and take the $2 million just so, they lie. I come from the greatest soca monarch ever." For minutes after Lyons exited the stage, patrons were chanting her name. Bunji Garlin performed of "Hold A Burn" before his wife, Lyons, and he too had the audience going wild with his performance.
Bunji told the audience he was upset that on the night of the Soca Monarch semifinals, the official television station of the competition, CNC 3, had chosen to broadcast the American Grammy Awards instead of the soca monarch, which he saw as disrespectful to the art form. Bunji also said the competition this year had gotten nasty and competitors were using dirty tactics to frustrate each other.
Bunji said that a certain competitor had solicited people to call in to a radio station and make comments that his daughter was deaf. "My daughter is healthy, beautiful and very intelligent and whatever they are trying will never succeed," Garlin said before getting back into the song. Machel Montano also expressed his disappointment about the Monarch not being broadcast saying, "They say we not on TV. We bigger than that. We live on the internet." Poking fun at Bunji, Lyons and Destra, Montano told the audience he was, "Very lyrical also and I doh stick. Dis year, Machel come back home and I'm going to take the Soca Monarch throne. Somebody like they vex with me because I come back in the competition," Montano said to the crowd that was so wild they nearly pushed down the fence between them and the stage.
Iwer "The Boss" George maintain his focus on his song rather than getting involve in the bacchanal. Delivering one of the of the night's best performances, George went right into the audience "Come To Me" as his fans danced around him. One thing for sure, this $2 million grand prize has turn the Power Monarch in to a battle zone.

Groovy Soca Monarch Finalists
1. Denise Belfon
2. Kess
3. Kerwin Du Bois
4. Destra Garcia
5. Chucky
6. Yankee Boy & Patch
7. All Rounder8. Benjai
9. Jahmoun
10. Patrice Roberts
11. Blaxx
12. Cassi
13. Megan Waldron

Power Soca Monarch Finalists

1. Bunji Garlin
2. Nadia Batson & Patrice Roberts
3. Ravi B
4. Tallpree
5. Destra
6. Iwer George
7. Fay-Ann Lyons
8. Shal Marshall
9. Machel Montano
10. Michelle X
11. JW & Blaze (defending champions)
Island Facts : -

* Feb 19th 1925 - Birthday of Leslie Laing, Linstead Jamaica,Olympic-gold-1952 4X400m relay runner .
* Feb 21st 1938 - The Birthday of Lester Bird, The Current Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda.

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Dancehall star lightens his skin not his tone White like me….

FEBRUARY 03, 2011

During slavery the lighter-skinned slaves worked in the master’s house, while the darker-skinned ones remained in the fields. Color became a symbol of preference and inferiority among slave. In today’s society that slave mentality continues. Perception is that the lighter your complexion, the better you will be treated. Apparently, in Jamaica there are some who believe that bleached skin is also a sign of beauty and the answer to a

better existence. Word is both men and women, mostly from the poorer regions of the island, have turn to bleaching cream to get that [brown] tanned look that many people are craving worldwide. A majority of the bleachers know that this practice damages their skin and is unhealthy, but they continue to use the product and the authorities are not doing enough to stop this disturbing trend. The reality is these individuals need to wake up and realize that it’s an unhealthy practice. But if one can’t convince people to stop smoking, I don’t think anyone will be able to convince individuals to stop bleaching their skin. But not everyone loves it. There were several artistes who lashed out against the act like Nardo Ranks in Dem A Bleach and Buju Banton in Black Woman. On the other hand some artist endorse this behaviour like reggae artist Vybz Kartel. The dancehall star has been lightening his skin and has been experiencing a backlash from fans who are appalled by his physical changes. In a recent interview, Kartel linked blacks who lighten their skin to white people who tan. “This is my new image,” Kartel said in the interview. “You can expect the unexpected. I feel comfortable with Black people lightening their skin. They want a different look. It’s tantamount to white people getting a sun tan.” Kartel is endorsing his own brand of cake soap and claims that the soap lightens his skin. However, Bounty Killer believes that Kartel is using something stronger to lighten his skin.

Island Facts : -
Feb 7th 1986 – Haitian President-for-Life Jean-Claude Duvalier flees to France, Henri Namphy becomes leader of Haiti
Feb 7th 1978 – Milt Palacio of the NBA team the Phoenix's Suns was born in Belize on this day
Be free to send your feedback on any of my articles to Productionsounds@gmail.com or Facebook Group: Production Sounds (Montreal).