By Lesroy W. Williams Observer Reporter
” (Frigate Bay, St. Kitts)”The Sixth Annual International Soca Awards, the first of its kind to be held in St. Kitts, was a no-show for many artistes and persons. A few persons who attended the event felt that the awards failed to live up to its standards of high quality and they were disappointed that the show didn’t deliver the entertainment the hype had promised. The ISA, which was held under the patronage of the Honorable Minister of State for Tourism, Sports and Culture, Senator Richard “Ricky” Skerritt and endorsed by the St. Kitts Tourism Authority, was initially scheduled to be held at the Marriott Event “Dome” Center on the golf course in Frigate Bay on Oct. 18, but had to be moved to the Marriott Resort Ball Room because of inclement weather brought about by Hurricane Omar. “It’s the most boring show I ever went to,” one attendee said after the show. “For soca, it was awful. They needed a live band and they needed more entertainment.” “Half of the artistes there I didn’t know. Those who didn’t turn up, I think they could have done better and be there,” the attendee said.” Wednesday Online Code for Issue # 730 is DNA Edwin “Crazy” Ayoung, often called the “Loveable Lunatic of Soca” from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, said that overall the show was a good one despite the hiccups. “It’s a great effort. They have to continue with it. The fellow Colin Jackman is the president of this organization (Soca Awards Organization) and he must continue doing it and don’t give up on his dreams,” Crazy said. “I feel good about the show; although they had some little flaws and thing they can fix that in 2009.” “They had too many artistes missing; that kills an award show. You must have the people there on hand to receive their awards,” Crazy said. “I don’t think it was the weather why they didn’t come.” “I thought it would have a bigger crowd but overall I think it was a good show,” Crazy said. “The management committee of this organization has to go back to the drawing board and plan a better show,” he said. “I think that the Prime Minister or somebody in government could have given some opening remarks. All these things they have to fix.” The gala green carpet event kicked off at about 8 pm with a dynamic performance from Kerwin Du Bois singing his hit “Gyal Farm”. He was adorned on stage with female dancers dressed as cowgirls. The awards were hosted by Winn Fm’s Sinclair “G-Cue” Liburd and Andre “Magic man” Phipps who was the narrator. Soca Artiste, Crazy, put some life into the awards when he performed his songs “Phone Card” which states “She Only Want Me for Card” and “In Time To Come”, which makes a prediction that the United States of America would one day have a black president. The audience roared to life with Crazy’s comical demeanor. The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis had a few nominees for awards even though they didn’t win in any of the categories that they were nominated for. US- based Kittitian Juliette Mills was nominated for Best New Female Soca Artiste Award while E.K. of the Small Axe Band was nominated for Favorite Groove Soca by a male for his song “Naughty Shorty”. Nu Vybes Band and Small Axe Band were nominated for Over All Soca Band of the Year Award. Smiley of Grand Master’s Band was nominated for Favorite Up Tempo Soca Award by a male for song “Boom Bam Bam” while Kittitian DJ Choice-oneMD was nominated for Best DJ Soca Mix CD of the Year. The ISA went to the following artistes: “”””””””” Best New Female Soca Artiste”Zoelah” “”””””””” Male Soca Vocalist of the Year”Kerwin Du Bois with song “Never Leave Ya” “”””””””” Female Soca Performer of the Year”Faye-Ann Lyons “”””””””” Male Soca Performer of the Year”Machel Montano “”””””””” Soca Songwriter of the Year”Kernel Roberts and Machel Montano “”””””””” Best Soca Collaboration Groove”Kerwin Du Bois and Shal Marshall (Gyal Farm) “”””””””” Over All Female Soca Artiste of the Year”Faye-Ann Lyons “”””””””” Best Soca Re-mix Collaboration”Ricky T ft. Mr. Vegas with “Pressure Boom Re-mix” “”””””””” Soca Humor of the Year”Crazy for “Phone Card” “”””””””” Soca Artiste Album/CD of the year””Flame On” by Machel Montano “”””””””” Favorite Soca Info Website”www.toronto-lime.com “”””””””” Favorite Groove Soca-Male”Mr. Dale “”””””””” Best Soca Collaboration Up Tempo””Congo Man” by Machel Montano and Mighty Sparrow “”””””””” Over All Male Soca Artiste of the Year”Machel Montano “”””””””” Soca Song of the Year””Get on” by Faye-Ann Lyons and “Pressure Boom” by Ricky T “”””””””” International Soca DJ of the Year”DJ Spice “”””””””” Favorite Groove Soca-Female”Patricia Roberts “”””””””” Best Soca Compilation Rhythm”Leh go Riddim “”””””””” Favorite Up Tempo Soca-Male””Pressure Boom” by Ricky T “”””””””” Best Soca Music Video””Desire” by SHKI “”””””””” Over All Soca Band of the Year”Machel Montano HD “”””””””” Soca Producer of the Year”Kerwin Du Bois with “Breathless”, “2 Days”, “Gyal Farm” “”””””””” Soca Chutney Song of the Year””Bring It” by Hunter “”””””””” Favorite Soca Online Radio”www.soca919.com The Soca Awards Organization (SAO) honoured several artistes for their contribution to Soca music. Legendary Calypsonian, Elston “King Ellie Matt” Nero, 10 times calypso king and 7 times road march winner of St.Kitts, was inducted into the ISA Hall of Fame. Winston “Gypsy” Peters of Trinidad received the SAO Legend Award; Mc Lean “King Short Shirt” Emmanuel of Antigua was awarded the SAO Lifetime/Achievement Award; Eddy Grant and Leston Paul had the SAO Technical Award bestowed upon them; and Ignatius “De Invader” Tisson received the SAO Trustees Award. Some of the artistes who made it to the awards included Crazy, Gypsy, Kerwin Du Bois, King Short Shirt, Zoelah, SKHI, Kamau, Sizwe C and Kassi;” King Ellie Matt along with many other artistes were not on hand to receive their awards, neither did they designate anyone to receive their awards on their behalf. The Soca Awards Organization, Inc. was founded in 2003 by Trinidad and Tobago’s native entrepreneur Mr. Colin “CJ” Jackman, who migrated to the United States in the 80’s. He made his debut on the soca stage in 1989 with the hit “Poison in the Party”. He is a songwriter and producer of soca. The first ever Soca Awards red carpet ceremony was held at the Soca Arena in Brooklyn, New York in 2003. In 2006, the event was registered and trademarked as the International Soca Awards. The event was only held in the Caribbean twice. The Third Annual Soca Awards was held in Trinidad and Tobago in 2005 and the Sixth International Soca Awards was held in St. Kitts and Nevis this year. The Award’s mission statement says that the objective of the awards is to recognize and reward excellence and achievement in the soca music art form while showcasing the extraordinary talents of soca music’s absolute best exponents to mainstream audiences.
