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by pltm
(PLTM) - This year’s 2017 soca monarch competition will see a slate of twelve contenders, representing a total of eight countries from across the region.
The countries that will be represented in the competition are the British Virgin Islands, St. Maarten, Saint Eustatius, Antigua, Grenada, St. Kitts, St. Vincent and The Grenadines and the USVI.
Of the twelve contenders, four local artists are gearing up to represent the Territory in the competition, namely B’more with his song titled ‘T.G.I.S’, Pascal with ‘Tis Music Alone’, JJ with ‘Come As You Are’’ and Chap Chap with ‘Shake It off’.
The competition, which is in its fifth year, will see all the participants go head to head in a lyrical and performance battle for a grand prize of $10,000.
Organizer of the event, Mr. Eustace ‘Boss’ Freeman, said this year is going to be even better than the previous years.
“I expect all the artistes to bring it. It’s $10,000 winner takes all, so people have to come with their best foot forward.”
Aside from the grand prize, the competition is one to expand the soca genre in the Territory, by putting local artistes to the test.
“The artistes here in the BVI would have to really perform; bring a great performance and song. We have heavy hitters coming from the respective countries," Boss said.
He continued, “The show has definitely raised the bar of soca in the Territory. What happened over the years is we are shifting away from band culture and seeing more and more artistes, and now, we have a platform where artistes can showcase, compete and hold their own on a stage against some other acts from the region.”
Last year’s competition was dominated by BVIslanders, who claimed the top three spots of the competition.
BVI's own Jevaughn "JJ" Parsons is the reigning Soca Monarch, while first runner up went to B'more, and second runner up to TeeJaay.
Only one regional artiste managed to secure a spot---King Vers of St. Maarten, who placed third runner up and also won best performer.
This year’s competition will go down on August 3 at the Festival Village in Road Town.
