De Fosto is the undisputed Pan Kaiso King

THE Original De Fosto Himself (Winston Scarborough) became the undisputed “Pan Kaiso” champion of 2004 when he won Pan Trinbago’s competition held at the Amphitheatre in St James, last Friday night.

A few days before De Fosto had captured Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organisation’s (TUCO) version of a similar contest, titled Kaiso For Pan, by offering “War 2004,” the popular selection chosen by most steelbands’ participation in this year’s National Steelband Panorama Competition. On Friday De Fosto gave another brilliant showcase of the song to win the judges’ nod among the 11 contestants and take home the $30,000 first prize. There was a tie for second position between Eunice Peters and Steve Sealy. Peters sang “Pure Party,” a composition of Brian “Bean” Griffith and Alvin Daniell, while Sealy’s contribution was titled “Jamboree.” Fourth place went to Anslem Douglas for his interpretation of “We Like To Play.”

Hollis Wright placed fifth with “In The Savannah,” and Baron copped sixth spot with “Don’t Go.” The seventh place saw a tie between Denyse Plummer (“The Challenge Is Minor”) and Irvin “Blackie” Blackman (“Pan In Meh Blood.”) Ninth position went to Shurwayne Winchester for “De Band Coming,” Kenny J (Kenrick Joseph) placed tenth with “Don’t Stop The Carnival,” 11th position was taken by Crazy (Edwin Ayoung) for “Carla,” and Chris Garcia gained 12th spot singing “On The Road.” SuperBlue (Austin Lyons), who was listed on the programme to sing in the ninth position, did not appear. The judging panel comprising Jocelyn Sealy, Esther Batson and Junior Howell awarded contestants 20 points for lyrics, 45 points for melody, 15 for rendition, 15 for originality and five for presentation. They were backed by an aggregation made up of steelpan and conventional musical instruments. Duties of show host were performed by radio personality Phil Simmons.