No Pan Kaiso competitions this year

NO special competitions will be staged this year for entertainers singing pan songs. Pan Trinbago which started the competition almost five years ago has cancelled this year’s programme due to poor attendance at previous hostings of the event, as well as a lack of sponsorship, said its secretary Richard Forteau. In similar fashion the Trinbago Unified Calypsonian Organisation (TUCO) which presented a “Kaiso for Pan” in 2004 has dropped the event from its 2005 itinerary of events. TUCO initiated the contest last year for its members who sang songs composed specifically for the steelpan, when Pan Trinbago — the governing steelband body — scrapped its “Pan Kaiso” show.

The calypso organisation’s effort was stumped, however, when Pan Trinbago reversed its decision. This resulted in two programmes with similar concepts being staged, with both playing to extremely small audiences. In a release yesterday, TUCO advised its members that their pan songs were eligible for all other competitions it staged. Michael Legerton, president of TUCO, told Newsday that Pan Trinbago’s decision to go ahead with its “Pan Kaiso,” contest last year affected the organisation financially. He said, “We wanted to create an outlet for members with pan songs, following Pan Trinbago’s decision to cancel its event. We tried to fill a void. We had to cut corners with our other events to host it, but in the end it was a fiasco — a financial embarrassment for TUCO. We have adopted a hardline economic position not to host it. We don’t need to have a pan kaiso competition. That’s for Pan Trinbago to do.”