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The judging was stacked
EDITOR,
When I saw the Captions “Judging Rules were not observed in Senior Panorama Competition” and “The Judging was unfair” in two of our daily newspapers with a complaint lodged against one of the officials, I cringed with indignation because my valiant effort to alert the Authorities and the General Public prior, of the unscrupulous behaviour of that said official mentioned in the article and of which he and another are now functioning at the helm of both the Junior/Senior Calypso competitions, it fell on deaf ears.
My letter under the Caption: WELCOME CHANGE OF OFFICIALS FOR MASH CALYPSO COMPETITION dated 21st January, 2018. (Kaieteur News) saw these people as an exchange to the corrupt outgoing ones since they were part and parcel of what was taking place back then, with mostly the junior competitions where they had a field day with corruption.
So what took place at the Panorama Competition and both the Adult and Junior Calypso Competitions recently held came as no surprise to me.
Even the gullible can relate to the avid strategy used by them especially the Convener who is known for his vindictive, brutal and shady behaviour when he was at the helm of other competitions in this country e.g GTT Jingle and Song competitions. Look how he is already baring his fangs.
The Adult Calypso Competition was transformed into one of Presentation, Voice and Performance and not one that should have seen the clashing of LYRICS which is the main criteria in the competition. This was deliberate because some of those lyrics posed a threat to the songs selected by him for the final leg of the competition.
Those songs were criminally dismissed in order for his song to be a piece of cake for the judges on the panel to award the songs that were favored and fixed by him and those in the ring, some judges included. It was a disaster from the semi-final because that’s where the fixing began.
This is what has been going on by those corrupt officials for years now. They cripple the competition by fixing songs to go through to the final leg in order for them to get a drawback from contestants who are willing to give and from the two Recording Studios they are connected to.
Just listen to some of those songs that made it to the final. Some were distasteful and mediocre and even won prizes. It is a disgrace.
But this is expected, when a corrupt Convener becomes the Chief Judge. It leaves much to be desired but it is part of the plot. He/she becomes deaf and blind when it comes to decisions made by the judges. The Adult Monarch gave a sterling performance but was it a real contest with the other lyrics? ABSOLUTELY NOT.
Is this the standard of Calypso the Ministry is willing to accept and pay for?
This corrupt ring in the Calypso Competition is bigger than the spare parts ring recently busted. It includes some officials, and some judges, these people are connected to the Production Studios who are willing to give a drawback.
Also there are some biased TV announcers who are in the ring, too, and who work diligently to give life to songs that are dead and not worthy. I think the time has come for a change in MCs at the competition. Let us have some females for a change. It would be refreshing.
Imaging all six contestants, three each from the two Production Studios made it to the final with songs that were controversial and mediocre. Those two studios carried all five of the prizes including the junior. Something stinks. It is common knowledge the Convener is connected to both Managers.
Finally Mr. Editor nothing more has been said about those 10 unfortunate Calypsonians. There has to be an inquiry. This is not a corrupt one-man show and corruption must be rooted out. I would hate to see my effort to educate and expose go down the drain once again.
I did give an accurate warning before.
D.BROWNE.
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