Christina is young chutney queen

Speaking at the opening of the competition, President of the National Chutney Foundation Vijay Ramlal Rai encouraged the students not to follow the adult version of the competition.

“We are training the children in order to develop original lyrical content, proper competition, and original melodies,” Ramlal Rai said.

He said the focus of the competition is promoting “clean” music and this year the compositions were of a high quality.

The majority of the contestants used the forum to highlight the upsurge in crime which has spread across TT, and to encouraged citizens to love their country.

Even though the audience was a bit disappointed with the results, in the secondary category renditions were well-received by those in the audience.

In the primary category, students performed with stamina and strong messages in their renditions.

For her win, with 248 points and an impeccable performance, Christina Chattergoon of Couva West Secondary, sang “A little girls dream.” In Chattergoon’s song, she called for those in authority to stop child marriages in Trinidad and Tobago.

She slowed down the tempo and engaged the audience to sing along with her, chanting, “We doh want to marry, so leave me alone and let me stay in school.” Chattergoon sang about the possibilities that was ahead of her, and pleaded for her to have a chance to choose for the betterment of her future.

Speaking to reporters after learning about her win, Chattergoon said she felt very excited and thanked her family, friends and teacher for their support.

“ Winning this competition means a lot to me. I put it out to the best of my ability. I really wanted to come first and it really happened. I want to thank my parents, my friends and my teacher Miss Richards for the very hard support she gave to us.” She continued, “I wrote my own song and came up with the melody. This is my second time in the competition.

I placed fifth last year. I will try back next year. I just want to thank everybody who said I would have made it, and I am excited.” Chattergoon said she decided to sing about the issue because it was a “hot topic” in society.