Farmer Nappy is the winner of the 2021 Soca Monarch competition.
Nappy beat a field of 10 to walk away with the first prize of $150,000 and a chance to perform at a global event courtesy 410 Grand LLC. This is his first Soca Monarch title.
His song 'Backyard Jam" produced by De Red Boyz out of Barbados and written by Trinidadian Jason "Shaft" Bishop, has been an overwhelming favourite since its release.
The second prize of $50,000 went to Olatunji Yearwood while the $25,000 third prize went to Viking Ding Dong and Mical Teja.
The pre-recorded competition, called ISM presents The Monarch, saw artistes competing without a live audience thanks to COVID-19 restrictions.
Despite that, the artistes brought their A-game, using video and physical props to enhance their performances.
Dancers from three dance schools —Elle TT, XO Dance School and Xtreme Dance Academy—enhanced the performances with choreography designed to fit seamlessly with each song.
Olatunji used his own dancers, however, for his performance of his song “Drunk History”.
Choreographed by Wendell Manwarren, the drunken sailor presentation was entertaining and theatrical with Ola throwing himself into the protagonist role to create a narrative that brought the song to life.
While Ola used only dancers to tell his story, others opted for elaborate sets.
Farmer Nappy created a backyard scene with a barbeque pit, bar, a riddim section and even a clothesline. His costume, shorts, t-shirt and a pair of slippers brought his popular of “Backyard Jam” to life.
Rome threw everything he had on stage. From the psychiatrist's office setting to a recreation of a big truck to a stage, Moko Jumbies, dancers, girls in costume, he let us know how much he was missing carnival with his song “All Now”.
The cancellation of Carnival was the dominant theme of the night with several artistes showing clips with the Prime Minister cancelling the Carnival and media reports.
Turner, dressed in a coverall, started his presentation with a virtual court in which he was sentenced to soca prison for choosing to party for his song “I’m A Man”.
The plight of women and calls to protect them was another dominant theme.
The lone female in the competition, Melly Rose, started her presentation for “Shine Pon Me” with several women talking about the issue. Dressed in white, the first-time competitor also showed several media reports about women being killed.
Preedy ended his performance of “Good Time” with a call to protect our women while Viking Ding Dong and Mical Teja closed the competition addressing the murder of Andrea Bharatt and substituting their lyrics in the song “I Horning First” with a line saying: “Put the women first, we can’t put them in no hearse.”
The competitors sang in alphabetical order with Aaron Duncan opening the show.
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