Disappointing Dimanche Gras

Notwithstanding Chalkdust’s historic ninth win in the National Calypso Monarch competition, we are left wanting. The show was under-produced, not reaching the standard that it should.

Even Chalkdust’s winning calypso, Learn From Arithmetic was pedestrian fare. Like much else in the finals it amounted to thinly- veiled personal attack under a fig leaf of current affairs.

True, it was very good that Chalkdust placed emphasis on the issue of child marriage which must be abolished forthwith. But his calypso was blatantly one-sided: attacking one race, one member of the Hindu community in a situation where the issue of child marriage engages the Hindu, Muslim and Orisha faiths and where many others have been as equally vociferous in favour of the practice, which was once sanctioned by Christian churches. “Even if you grease your copybook with margarine it can’t go in,” Chalkie sang, addressing a figure named Sat Maharaj. For this, he was rewarded amply by the judges.

Meanwhile, calypsoes by Karene Asche and Heather Mc Intosh managed second and third place respectively.

Elsewhere, the lyrics on display included many other offensive and improper messages, including one calypso that appeared to condone homophobic violence.

But not only was the show poor in terms of content, it was poor by all other standards as well. The production values were nowhere near where they should be for a show that is supposed to be the pinnacle of the Greatest Show on Earth. Lighting and sound were poor.

Once more, the format proved unentertaining. It was long, loose and baggy. Offensively so.

Perhaps the length of the show was due to how many people sued to get into the finals.

It is remarkable that there was a flurry of litigation in relation to this competition, litigation which had to be paid for by taxpayers.

Relative to the chaos that precipitated it, things went smoothly on Sunday. But we cannot wonder if the producers might have been better able to produce a top-notch show if they weren’t distracted by having to don court clothes? For years, Dimanche Gras has been a Carnival headache that no one seems to get right. We have not made any progress. The format of excluding the Kings and Queens of Carnival from Sunday night has only diluted excitement over both mas and calypso.

Not having the showcase of Dimanche Gras, the mas men and women are left out of the party.

And the calypsonians and given too much pressure to carry through an epic production with only paltry props and pantomime.

The eyes of the world were watching on Sunday and, to be frank, those eyes were likely to have turned elsewhere.

A case in point is the fact that the Academy Awards were being broadcast simultaneously, as if we needed a reminder of the possibilities when high production values are involved.

Do the organisers of Dimanche Gras think of it as a production and a product? A chance to promote Trinidad and Tobago? Do they consider their audience, beyond the Grand Stand and the North Stand? Have they sat down and put Dimanche Gras in context, in terms of its long, illustrious history and its place within the Carnival arts now that there is a critical need for evolution? While the Big Stage is made for pan and for thousands of revellers, can its design be reconsidered? Have organisers thought about the role of social media in today’s world and how that places more pressure on them to produce a more engaging product? There must be a post-show post-mortem. One issue that should also be considered is the exorbitant length of the songs on Sunday which, verse after verse, made some viewers beg for mercy.

Next year’s show must be better than this.