New schools in Jnr Soca Monarch

Consultant/Director at Caribbean Prestige Foundation, Jack Alexis, told Newsday yesterday that a number of new schools have already registered for the Junior Soca Monarch Competition. One such school is Diego Martin Primary. The preliminaries will be held on Saturday near the Grand Stand, Queen’s Park Savannah, next to the Paddocks. However, the bulk of registrations are expected on the day of the prelims, which in this case starts at 8 am before the 9.30 start of the competition. Contestants will be vying for the $30,000 first prize, which will be divided equally between themselves and the school which they represent.

The Ministries of Sports and National Security will be two special prizes this year — one for the best Soca song using the theme Soca Warriors/pride of the country, and the other for the best Soca song on citizen safety and security. The judging criteria for the competition this year is as follows: Melody — suitability/appropriateness /phrasing — 25 points. Rendition — intonation/clarity of diction/enunciation/articulation — 20 points. Lyrics — creativity/descriptiveness/metering/rhyming/scheme/clarity of message/thematic development — 30 points.

Arrangements — musical acc/Soca genre or idiom/Soca form - 15 points. Performances — visual impact/body language/use of stage/use of props  — ten points. The qualification for the semi-final and final is determined on a percentage point basis with participants making 60 percent and above in the semi-finals, and semi-finalists making 65 percent and above moving into the finals.