‘Bones man’ is Soca Monarch 2010

Feb 22, 2010 News

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(By Mondale Smith and Gary Eleazar)

While Shelly G’s no show to defend her title proved a disappointment to some, none can complain about the 2010 choice for Soca Monarch.
Before a celebratory crowd, Orlando ‘Bones man’ Johashen, 27, a Berbician of Tempe Village and a worker at the Guyana Forestry    Commission, was adjudged the 2010 Soca Monarch.
The artiste who copped the crown from a lineup of nine contestants was true to his Guyanese roots and proudly sang with support from the crowd, “ I don’t care what nobody say Mashramani time is we own… see we jumping…”
From the time he began his performance to his conclusion, the crowd was on fire for him and he did not disappoint with lyrical delivery like that of Trinidad soca sensation Bunji Garlin.
The father of one was a burst of energy and hype, leaving the crowd shouting “Bones man…we want Bones man” long after he exited the stage.

One woman, who is an obvious soca crazy fan, was heard telling others “I’m disappointed that Shelly G did not show up but Bones Man deserved it.”
Appearing as the penultimate performer, the artiste who won the Best Newcomer Prize three years ago, offered a performance that included fireworks and the crowd was with him on Saturday night.
The crowd liked him and his energy was great.
Unique in his delivery, he wore a straw skirt instead of pants under a large white coat.
Amidst performing he shouted, “ya’ll want to see the real Bones man’. As the crowd shouted in the positive, he stripped himself of the coat and the crowd went into a frenzy declaring him the clear winner.
He used the X-factor dancers who added to his energy and they were supported off stage by several Mocha jumbies (stilts walkers).
Tomeka Thomas, the pregnant lady was first up singing about her balloon.
She appeared as a queen and her backup dancers were a bunch of fully pregnant (imitations) women, dressed in leotards prancing around the stage showcasing their balloons proudly.
It was her second shot at the crown and this year she was inspired by last year’s Trinidad Soca Monarch, Fay-Ann Lyons.
Though being eight months pregnant, she took some serious risks to prove that she was fit. However, it must have been an error on the part of the MC not to have announced that she once resided in the ‘Islands’ and this possibly worked against her as her accent was obviously not Guyanese.
But both her and her baby proved entertaining as she imitated her soca inspiration in attitude and singing.
The crowd was moved to laughter as she announced that comedian Chow Pow was her baby father.
The audience was unsure of how to react when she executed a split to conclude her presentation.
B52 the Fireman was up next with ‘We carrying on’ and his was a performance that featured fireworks flying and the flame-throwers on and off stage as well as on the stage’s roof.
He donned a white suit lined with trimmings of the flag and was backed by dancers dressed in red and yellow outfits.
Something about the microphone sound was not as clear and caused him to literally strain his vocals in delivery.
He, like at least three others, including the winner, included the predictable, ‘Somebody missing’ chant but the crowd did show him some love.
Lady B’ (Barbra) was introduced next, and she appeared wearing a Guyana flag mohawk.
Hers was a delivery that stated that she “Want a man who could lift me up.”
That song sounded very familiar. Her backups included dancers who were good but they needed better costumes.
Some dubbed her “a good filler” but were saying when she exited the stage that “she should go home now”.
‘Back wine time’ was probably the energy saver to the first half of the competitors, as Beverly Nedd, using dance fanatics for back up, delivered a scorching performance that proved that age ain’t anything but a number.
She sounded really nice and professionally so too while using the stage well.
The crowd certainly enjoyed her serving of ‘Back wine time’ that made many exclaimed that “granny could entertain and wine.”
That was the performance to beat in the first half of the show but it did earn her third place.
Guyana-born Jamaica-based artiste, Pierre Da Silva, was next up and he came with much energy for his ‘mad, mad, mad’ song.
With sponsorship from Bill Express, he and his dancers donned doctors’ jackets and were full of energy but he somehow did not connect with the audience as he could have.
It was obvious that the crowd couldn’t decide if they should support him or not as for the most part, his delivery was so full of words that it was hard to understand what he was singing but the musical accompaniment was high energy.
His locks were full of sparkles and he too delivered the overplayed ‘somebody missing’ chant which evoked the usual crowd response as he paraded all over the stage.
‘Material things’ done by Tele Cruz who resides in Trinidad was a fairly delivered groovy soca, with dancers who appeared on an ATV imitating lady Gaga.
But the song also bordered on dance hall.
Then a lady whom he described as European came and offered some supposed exotic dancing before he ordered her off the stage because she was offering things that he was not interested in, namely material things.
Then came his dispersal of money (Trinidadian Dollar Bills) into the crowd, followed by him relieving himself of his shirt to reveal a Guyana flag painted on his chest.
While some enjoyed his delivery, many did not find him impressive enough. However, he got the judges’ nod for the Best Newcomer Prize.
His performance included a local steel pan player being invited to the stage to play parts of his song before he got back into the singing groove.
Former reporter turn singer, Jackie Handover, was a great act that presented “Festival time” with a good voice, while some said they saw a whole lot of Charmaine Blackman in her delivery.
She wore a two piece red short pants suit.
While she was energetic, she failed when she tried to interact with the audience by stating that Trinidad has Crop Over and Barbados has Carnival.
With work, some believe that she will be a force to be reckoned with in future competitions.
Vanilla offered an electric performance which earned her second place that encouraged patrons to get ‘High’.
Her presentation included Mocha Jumbies and dancers as well as bodybuilders.
She was dressed in a red jacket and a gold short pants.
She was backed by dancers from the National Dance School, sporting colours of the flag.
Amidst her performance there were several explosions of confetti and fireworks and she tore off her jacket to reveal a body hugging black and gold bodysuit.
And the fireworks exploded even more as dancers dressed in carnival costumes arrived on forklifts.
And before long, she too was on a forklift with support from a gyrating bodybuilder.
Some were loud in praises saying, “big-up Bones Man, he work hard for it for real, now he just got to keep up the hype and energy that he got and big things could happen for he”.

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