Olatunji confirms title defence

Yearwood made the statement to Newsday after performing at the second day of the Soca in bSquare. The event has become a signature Carnival event for telecommunications company, Blink/Bmobile.

Even though the telecommunications company reduced its sponsorship to several Carnival events this year due to the economic recession, its acting senior manager of commercial marketing, Lorraine Steele said in an interview that this was one event the company decided to keep.

“The company as with any other company in this economy, we looked at certain budgets and so on and we did some reviewing.

However, bSquare we realised is our signature event and the people of Port-of-Spain and the people who visit during this week really do look forward to bSquare.” Although Steele wished not to state how much was spent on the event, she said, “We view bSquare as a gift to the people and, as the national telecommunications provider, we support Carnival.” The company, she said, therefore took the decision that the company would have bSquare running not for its usual week but over a three-day period running from the 27 to the 29.

The company included pan side, Brimblers into this year’s line-up of performers much to the delight of the crowds.

A female member of the audience who wished not to be identified said, she was happy that the telecommunications company kept the event because it provided a sense of stress relief for workers in and around the country’s capital.

“It gives the general public the opportunity to get an hour’s break from work and sometimes you need that stress-reliever.

I am glad they did not cut it,” she said.

Performers including 5Star Akil, Shal Marshall, Rikki Jai and Olatunji-scheduled to contend for the coveted International Soca Monarch title had hundreds of people swaying and dancing in Woodford Square, Port-of-Spain.

Yesterday’s event which began at 11 am started with the sounds of Brimblers Steel Orchestra.

The pan side delivered a 45-minute set, playing songs such as Merchant’s Um Ba Ya Oh and the Carpenter’s Close to You.

Soca artiste Lil Bits was the first to hit the bSquare stage, followed by 5Star Akil, then Rikki Jai with his 2016 hit Leh We Fete and a number of his other hits. Shal Marshall and GBM Nutron then delighted the crowd and the event closed off with Olatunji. Rikki Jai told Newsday his hit, “Leh We Fete” is gaining traction on the airwaves and in the fetes and he is going to go all out at the finals of the Soca Monarch.

“I began my career in soca music with ‘Sumintra’, ‘Show me your motion’, ‘Pumpin’, ‘Wine on a bumsee’. I have a good history in soca and in 2016 I made a more concerted effort to rebrand myself because for the last couple of years having won the Chuntney Soca Monarch so many times, I felt the public simply knew me as Rikki Jai the chutney artiste. So 2016’s “Leh We Fete” was a calculated move to rebrand Rikki Jai the soca star,” he said.