"Winners qualify to represent USA at International competition"
The first USA Calypso Monarch Competition will launch in full gear with preliminary dates set for Friday August 8, Saturday August 9, and Thursday August 14. The semi-finals and finals scheduled for Thursday, August 21 and Wednesday, August 27, 1997. Brooklyn's newest nightclub, Tropical Reflections, 4501 Glenwood Road, Brooklyn's is now the venue for all events. "We are delighted to be able to offer our facility for the launching of this significant cultural event" states Mr. Telemaque, Proprietor of the venue.
Sponsors already signed on include Captain Morgan Rum, WLIB, BWIA, Mt. Gray, Trinidad & Tobago Unit Trust, Guyana Airways, Calypso City and Love DR/WNWK, Western Union and more. Leading "in town" Calypsonians are committed to making guest appearances during the "calypso season".
West Indian American Day Carnival Association (WIADCA) and Ah Wee Tours, publishers of So Yu Going To . . . Carnival Magazine, the international carnival bible, are excited about the prospect of bringing to the United States the opportunity for the local bards to continue musically to the more than forty carnivals that are held throughout the United States and Canada. This is particularly significant as the WIADCA celebrates thirty years of carnival in New York.
Calypsonians will vie for prize monies totaling up to $20,000.00 and the winners will be crowned and invited to make a guest appearance at the Sunday Night Dimanche Gras show at the Brooklyn Museum on August 31st. The winners will also automatically qualify to represent the USA at the upcoming International Soca Monarch competition in Trinidad & Tobago this carnival.
Monarchs will be crowned in two categories: veteran and contemporary. Veterans will include Calypsonians who have been singing for over 20 years and have learned the art form outside the USA. Contemporaries are those artistes whoa re singing less than 20 years and have perfected or learned the craft in the USA. All participants must be USA residents.
