The naughty teenager

“I think this gives me an edge to feel confident about my chances of winning,” the soft-spoken young man, who goes by the sobriquet Blaze, stated.

The Bon Air Gardens, Arouca teenager will be singing the song, “Gettin’ Naughty”, which he wrote with his two best friends, twins Osei and Jibri Mc Eachnie.

“It is a song about a girl enjoying herself in a fete. Trinis have a certain way they carry about themselves and this is what I tried to portray. It is not about offending anyone, but just about highlighting the vibes in a party and expressing yourself through dancing,” Marcus explained.

He has even developed a special dance he does while performing the song, called the “ants patch dance”, which involves moving your entire body while pretending to be clearing away ants from your body, in a sort of wiggling motion.

Marcus said he just created the dance to add some “flavour to my stage presentation. There is also a simple story behind the name Blaze, which I only started using because the Synergy organisers asked for our (the competitors) sobriquets.

“We were in the studio after the 15 semi-finalists were chosen, and someone asked for a blaze to light a cigarette and I liked the word.

“A blaze is like a flame which is very difficult to put out and I want to be known as an unstoppable entertainer.”

His interest in performing stems from his love for R&B music, and while he would one day love to make it as an international star, he is a grounded individual who knows that because of our local culture, artistes should prove themselves here first, mastering Soca and local music, before taking on a foreign market. For him, entering Synergy was the first step in gaining this exposure.

After the competition, Marcus already has another song written to be recorded, but he will hold back on releasing it until closer to next year’s Carnival.

He also had help from the “twins” on this creation and feels confident that the three of them may become a strong force in the music industry locally.

For now though, he is concentrating on his education by pursuing studies in Information Technology, which he explained will help him understand the technical aspects of the recording world. Marcus has the full support of his family, especially his main financer, his mom, who he said has never doubted him.

And he feels no qualms about stepping into the competitive Soca arena, because he boldly stated: “I am sure this is what I want to do. If I have good and bad experiences, I will just learn from them.”

Marcus goes up against eight finalists at the Synergy Soca Stars competition, which takes place today at the Jean Pierre Complex from 6 pm, with the first prize being a Daihatsu Terios vehicle.