3 teens in Soca Monarch semis

Nesta Boxill, the 17-year-old son of the late master songwriter/-calypsonian Merchant (Dennis Franklin Williams), stands tall as the only junior competitor to place in the semi-finals of the Groovy Monarch competition. The Fatima College student who performs under the sobriquet Mr Ambassador will compete against 31 other competitors for one of ten places in the final against defending Monarch Shurwayne Winchester.

Erphan Alves, 15, of St George’s College is the youngest of the three and will be competing in the International Soca Monarch competition with “Street Heat”.

Alves, who placed second in the National Schools Soca Monarch in 2006, hopes to be among the ten finalists. The third in the bunch is Marcel Bennett (Young Marcel), 16, who can easily be considered the veteran of the three Juniors, having competed on two previous occasions (2003 and 2004).

The Holy Cross College student is the reigning National Schools’ Soca Monarch and intends to defend his title. The semi-finals of the International Soca Monarch and Groovy Soca Monarch competitions will be held on Sunday from 5.30 pm at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port-of-Spain.