The road to the Calypso Finals is set to begin next Tuesday, May 28 with the cast of the ‘Graduates’ Calypso tent taking to the stage at the Russell’s Auditorium.
Then it will be the turn of the ‘Upstage Experience’ on May 29 followed by the ‘On Tour’ Calypso Tent on May 30.
Each tent will feature three shows, inclusive of the preliminaries which kicks off on June 8 when the Dynamites Cultural Organization, based in New York will be the first to face the judges followed by ‘Graduates’ on June 11, ‘Upstage Experience’ on June 12 and the ‘On Tour’ Calypso tent on June 13.
According to Shaunelle McKenzie, Leader of the ‘Upstage Experience’, this year’s cast features 15 Calypsonians including the return of Arlene ‘Kijah Gani’ Legair after many years and Denise ‘Lady D’ Stephens who has also made a return to the Calypso tent.
McKenzie, while speaking at a press briefing earlier today said that the ‘Upstage Experience’ will be journeying outside of the Russell’s Auditorium, something that the Calypso tent had not done for some time.
They will be journeying to Cumberland on June 7 and Sandy Bay on June 8 this in addition to shows scheduled to be held at the Russell’s Auditorium on May 29 and June 5.
The ‘On Tour’ Calypso Tent will feature a cast of 18 this year and will feature, for this year only, a new tent leader.
Elvis ‘Abijah’ Abbey has taken up the mantle after the Calypso Tent’s regular Leader Grantley ‘Ipa’ Constance decided to sit out of this year’s competition.
According to Abbey, the decision had been taken to do things a little differently this year, this in relation to selecting the cast.
He explained that auditions were set up and two adjudicators made recommendations and the cast of 18 was selected with shows scheduled for May 30 and June 6.
“There will be some additional attractions to the tent,” Abbey said adding that he did not want to disclose what those attractions were.
Some featured Calypsonians among the case include Alvin ‘Zion-I’ Dennie, Robert ‘Patches’ Knights-King, Abijah and William ‘Kojah’ Anthony among others.
The ‘Graduates’ Calypso tent also features a cast of 18 this year, and will feature Bequia Calypsonian, ‘J Gould’.
According to tent leader, Glenroy ‘Homie’ Delplesche included in this year’s cast are Kingsley ‘Hero’ Roberts, Maxwell ‘Tajoe’ Francis, Godwin Augustus Oliver ‘Gao’, Ozarie Matthews and Kester ‘Flanka’ Chapman among others.
The first outing for the ‘Graduates’ tent is May 28 followed by June 4 and June 11.
The Dynamites Cultural Organization was officially launched on May 11, and according to Marvo Morgan, it has been doing a lot in the Diaspora and not just in Calypso.
“They have been doing a lot of social work, so we want to comment them because they are representing St Vincent and the Grenadines,” Morgan said.
They will be featuring a cast of 10 Calypsonians including John Dougan, Ramon ‘Jose Juan’ Diaz, Carlos ‘Rejector’ Providence, Oscar James, Dennis Bowman, and Errol ‘D Man Age’ Rose.
Twenty-two semi-finalists will be selected at the preliminaries, with the Semi-Finals dubbed ‘Fantastic Friday’ scheduled for June 28.