Luta is kaiso king ...Chalkdust dethroned

Luta topped a field of 12 at the Dimanche Gras show on Sunday at the Queen’s Park Savannah. Singing Sandra placed second, while the judges ranked Chalkdust third.

Luta had worked steadily through the kaiso season to win the Unattached Monarch Competition, and both the social and political commentary winning titles at the Categories Calypso Finals. He sang two upbeat and inspiring songs "Check the Foundation" and "Kaiso, Kaiso." While his songs chided, they didn’t moan and whine, but offered constructive solutions.

In "Check The Foundation" Luta likened Trinidad and Tobago to a 43-year-old man who had gone astray. Saying the first forty years in any life set the foundation for the rest of life, Luta wondered what was now happening in our country. Pointing out our social ills, Luta sang: "Everybody has a solution yet we living with the problem still, Check the first forty years and see the foundation that you build."

In the second round, Luta likewise made his point without getting too preachy but keeping it light. In ‘Kaiso kaiso" he lamented: "Men end up winning, yet next day you can’t remember a word they sang." Explaining what made a good kaiso, he slammed those artistes who lazily modelled their songs on nursery rhymes, Baptist and Orisha chant, and recycled melodies from the late Grandmaster, Lord Kitchener.

Second-placed Singing Sandra sang her usual lament of the crime plaguing this country. In "Blind Justice," dressed as a judge she lamented that wealthy persons were rarely convicted of crimes.

"Too many ashes in the urn" was a mournful plea to stop the many killings, ironically at a time of huge oil wealth. Chalkdust was clearly the people’s choice, with some patrons screaming when the judges annouced he had been placed third.

In "Bandit Factory," he listed the little sins of ommission, which we are all guilty of which may be producing the bandits of tomorrow. Pregnant schoolgirls, absent teachers, greedy lawyers and corrupt policemen, were all responsible for helping to create bandits.

His second song, "Chalkie, the mail man" pondered why certain recent events — such as the booing of UNC political leader Winston Dookeran — had happened. His reply, "Money pass!" and an accompanying skit, showed a judge taking a bribe. Chalkie was both artful and masterful. The audience liked young Brian London, whose "No vacancy" said job seekers face unemployment if deemed to live in an undesirable area.

London sang: "Sir I living Embacadere; I’ll put you on file and call you next year."

In "Soca Warriors," DeFosto created a mood of jubilation to celebrate our World Cup entry. Footballers, cheerleaders, and pannists, moko jumbies created a spectacle akin to a Soca Monarch performance.

Roderick Gordon, who also sings soca, had an excellent song "Doing Time" in which he told the tale of Rhonda who sacrificed her happiness to stay illegally in Brooklyn. Stinger’s "Is only when" chided Trinidadians for being influenced by crime-advocating foreign cultures like the reggae song "Ganja Planter" and the rap song "Get rich or die trying." Brother Mudada was quite funny as he hit calypsonians who criticise judges after losing.

The full results were 1. Luta (866 points) 2. Singing Sandra (833) 3. Chalkdust (826 points) 4. Skatie (809) 5. Brother Mudada (807) 6. Brian London (800), with the remaining singers unplaced.

Chalkdust won the People’s Choice.

Chalkdust was surprisingly non-bitter. "I don’t complain at the judges decisions, I leave it to the people."

"People in London, New York, Washington, and Toronto all said Chalkdust had won," he said.