Come again!

GO BACK to the drawing board on the semi-finals of the Party Monarch and Sweet Soca competitions.

This is the call by some artistes to the National Cultural Foundation (NCF), following last weekend’s drawn-out Phenomenal Friday show at Kensington Oval put on by 4D Entertainment in collaboration with the NCF. It featured the International Bashment Soca finals, and the Party Monarch and Sweet Soca semis.

The show was scheduled to start at 10 p.m. but only got underway at 11:20 p.m. after artistes in the Party Monarch and Sweet Soca took issue with their dressing room conditions and refused to perform until they were rectified. It ended after 6 a.m. Saturday.

Seasoned entertainer Adrian AC Clarke said the night was too long and was a disservice to the competitors.

He said while he understood that performing at early morning hours was supposed to be a norm for entertainers, it was entirely different when one was competing.

“Going on stage at 4 a.m. at a concert or show is a different thing from going on a stage to perform in a competition. If it’s a show, fine, you just come, sing to the audience and go. But you’re out there in competitive mode and vying against 15 people in each competition.

“I think it is a disservice to the competitors. You have artistes that are taking part in at least two competitions, in some cases you could even have three; that’s not fair to them,” he told the DAILY NATION.

“I’m not just talking about us the competitors, but I’m talking about the judges who may be up there tired too because they are there from early to judge this show.”

Clarke, who performed in Sweet Soca after 4 a.m. Saturday, said patrons were also not up for the long show, evident in the dwindling numbers as the morning went on.

He suggested that the NCF rethink the structure for the show and come up with something better suited for everyone. (DB)

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