Fantastic Friday!!! Power Soca Monarch 2010

International Soca Monarch 2010: Power!!!
 The Finalists (in order of appearance)….

Daddy Chess (Dominica) – Ready or Not
Tian Winter (Antigua) – Soca Rebel
Super Jigga TC – Template
Shal Marshall & Screws – Police
Skinny Fabulous (St. Vincent) – De Beast let Go
Mr. Killa (Grenada) – Swing it Away
Tallpree (Grenada) – Wicked Jab
Farmer Nappy – I pay for This
Fay Ann Lyons Alvarez – True Lies
Neil Iwer George – Party Hard
JW & Blaze – Palance
Blaxx – Zombie/Hunting
Ronnie Mc Intosh & KMC – While you Can

Power Soca Monarch… this one is all about having 100GB of energy on stage, having the actions of crowd in the palm of your hands, outrageous costumes, new verses and a full carnival style stage show. Not forgetting that surprise element that will have people talking about your performance for months after.

This year the scoring has twist of 65% of the scores decided through the judges and 35% through text votes. Voting also will be open to citizens in Antigua, Barbados, Grenada, Dominica, St Vincent, United States and Canada.

The Breakdown… The Top 5’s

Composition
Fay Ann Lyons Alvarez – True Lies
Skinny Fabulous (St. Vincent) – De Beast let Go
Farmer Nappy – I pay for This
Blaxx – Zombie/Hunting
JW & Blaze – Palance

Energy of the song
Mr. Killa (Grenada) – Swing it Away
JW & Blaze – Palance
Fay Ann Lyons Alvarez – True Lies
Blaxx – Zombie/Hunting
Daddy Chess (Dominica) – Ready or Not

Stage presence/Show
Fay Ann Lyons Alvarez – True Lies
Neil Iwer George – Party Hard
Blaxx – Zombie/Hunting
Farmer Nappy – I pay for This
JW & Blaze – Palance

Crowd response
Fay Ann Lyons Alvarez – True Lies
JW & Blaze – Palance
Blaxx – Zombie/Hunting
Neil Iwer George – Party Hard
Ronnie Mc Intosh & KMC – While you Can

Popularity (35% text votes) 
JW & Blaze – Palance
Fay Ann Lyons Alvarez – True Lies
Blaxx – Zombie/Hunting
Shal Marshall & Screws – Police
Neil Iwer George – Party Hard

My Top 5
Fay Ann Lyons Alvarez- Call Meh
Blaxx – Zombie/Hunting
JW & Blaze – Palance
Farmer Nappy – I pay for This
Skinny Fabulous (St. Vincent) – De Beast let Go

Close Calls:
Neil Iwer George – Party Hard
Ronnie Mc Intosh & KMC – While you Can
Shal Marshall & Screws – Police

Is this year blaxx’s year to shine? With three years of consistent contenders for the Monarch and Road March can he finally live up to the quality of his music? Or will the Silver Surfer Fay Ann Lyons retain her crown with her very well crafted song that seems like it was created specifically for Fantastic Friday? Can JW & Blaze overcome the stigma of being ‘kicks’ performers and deliver a commanding performance with Carnival 2010’s biggest tune?

The race is between the three and not only do we have to factor in popularity votes in this one but the order of appearance as well. The battle begins with Fay Ann who comes on after Farmer who is expected to deliver a top class performance, but there will be no doubt that the crowd will be anxiously awaiting her arrival with chants of her name. Once she is able to capture the attention of the crowd which I am sure she will she’s going to retain her title, look out for she showing some skin for the first time this season to prove to people that she still has that 6 pack :P and look out for other of the usual tricks she has up her sleeve.

Iwer is up next and although his song did not get much airplay this season (people are fed up with his overly mundane lyrics I suppose) if anyone can command a crowd at Fantastic Friday it is Iwer, however how would he deal with coming on after his new rival? And if the crowd erupted after her performance like last year things would look even worse for the veteran.

JW & Blaze will no doubt bring the crowd back to life and turn the energy level way back up, but can they sustain that energy onstage for their entire performance? That remains to be seen. Although they have undoubtedly the season’s biggest song they are still the underdogs of the competition because of their inexperience. What about the stage show? We have yet to see what they can really do with a full length performance and it will be very interesting to see what they come up with and how the judges and crowd reacts.

Blaxx has the tough act of coming on after them but with two strong songs to choose from he should have no problems with being Geppetto and having the crowd as his Pinocchio.

More so both these songs have great theatrical elements to them that I am sure he will take advantage of in his stage show. His main weakness however is his energy on stage, if he shakes a leg this year he has every chance of winning the crown. I say he perform the crowd favourite Zombie others may say he perform Hunting, I guess we’ll just have to wait for Fantastic Friday to see.

People would also want to see if former two time winner Ronnie Mc Intosh still has it alongside another veteran KMC however the low level energy song with weak lyrics and limited airplay would leave Ronnie fans expectant of more or on the other hand maybe Ronnie will be able to pull off a spectacular performance of old and leave the crowd wanting more, unlikely though.

Fay Ann retains her crown followed closely by Blaxx and JW & Blaze. Farmer will steal 4th from the veterans Iwer and Ronnie while Skinny Fabulous will take 5th (look out for him though, he’s a rising star and this song’s a creeper)

Hear the songs on youtube and judge for yourself… who are your top 3?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak3wh6Jl93w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmrsQvs6tQs&feature=PlayList&p=2CD49F831ADBB3F5&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=25
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi_uEvuWzCc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxX9Jt6g7Ro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFsZDinLkD8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu5D9eyk35Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0bg1Mgxbjk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXHKpakjKoc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXCeUDL9Vgk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYAofYQRcds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CNNn5b6WJ8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zlbeF-6jic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNc0IVWGvJw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdCyBjwOY78