Calypsonians vex with TUCO

Speaking on condition of anonymity yesterday, a veteran calypsonian told Newsday: “It is a sad day for calypso, now anybody could come and say, ‘I want to perform’ and get their way.” A total of 40 were listed to perform at the National Calypso Monarch semi-finals out of which 15 would be selected for the grand finals at Dimanche Gras, Queen’s Park Savannah on Carnival Sunday. By end of the night on Saturday, 43 calypsonians faced the judges, which raised many an eyebrows especially after well-respected calypso tent Kalypso Revue last week pulled out of the Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organisation (TUCO) after only one of its cast of calypsonians was picked for the semis.

The aggrieved calypsonians argued that reserves are only allowed to perform if a finalist cannot take his or her place in the competition. None of the finalists selected, pulled out of semis. The calypsonian asked: “So what really going on? Even if ‘Impulse’ mounted a legal challenge and won, on what basis were the other two reserves allowed to perform?” Newsday learned that ‘Impulse’ who was not originally selected as a semi-finalist, sought through his attorney Dexter Bailey to challenge TUCO.

It was later discovered that ‘Impulse’ was a financial member and properly registered and should have been considered. He was contacted on Friday night and told to get ready to compete in Fiesta the next day.

Contacted yesterday, ‘Impulse’ said, “I got a call almost midnight on Friday telling me I am a semi-finalist.” It was during the first half of the show on Saturday that an announcement was made on stage that he would be appearing in 41st position. However, when his time came to perform it was a different story. Newsday learned that chaos ensued backstage just as ‘Impulse’ was about to enter the stage resulting in him being pulled off in favor of ‘Spicey’ who sang “Missing You”.

Her performance was followed by Guerra who sang “Priorities.” Impulse sang in last position and said he never had a fair chance.

“My skit was in progress on stage and I was just about to enter the stage when I was stopped and told I was not going again,” an aggrieved Modeste said. Attorney Bailey yesterday confirmed that he wrote to TUCO on behalf of his client. “I wrote them, they saw my point and upon checking, it was discovered that an internal (TUCO) error was made. And rather than going to court, it was decided that he should perform and he was allowed to do so,” Bailey said.

Efforts to reach TUCO chairman Lutalo “Brother Resistance” Masimba yesterday for a comment proved futile as calls to his cell phone went unanswered.

(See Page 10)