tidings
Corey Connelly
Chairman of the TRINBAGO Unified Calypsonian Organization (TUCO) in Tobago, Ainsley King says the organization’s calypso monarch competition last Sunday was successful because of strategic planning.
The event, at the Shaw Park Cultural Complex, saw Pembroke native Nicole Thomas retain her title, having won the competition in 2020 at the start of the Covid19 pandemic.
Organizers and patrons said the competition, which featured 13 calypsonians, was outstanding.
“The standard was very high. It’s exactly what we intended,” King told Newsday.
He said the TUCO executive changed the criteria, allowing calypsonians to sing compositions they had previously performed.
“We started the competition because, to be honest, a lot of Tobago’s music would have gone unnoticed, because with the normal carnival, who has time to look in Tobago to see what’s going on when Trinidad is so busy with activities?
“But now the spotlight is on Tobago. That’s why the TUCO leader decided to give all the powerful songs in the past a chance, because many of them never made it. And that’s why the standard was so high, because the biggest songs end up going back to the competition.”
He added, “From TUCO’s point of view, I have to compliment all the brains I have on my leader because I think I have some very intelligent people. We were able to study what was going on and restructure.”
King said that while TUCO is not in a bad position, other stakeholders are not so lucky.
“I have carefully looked at everything. There’s so much going on in space that if your math is bad, you can end up in trouble because some people party the bus while some people’s parties work.
“I think that for some people the holidays work because they were able to read everything that was going on around them to know what steps to take.”
He said TUCO had done just that.
Referring to her upcoming TUCO Tobago Lime on Saturday, King said: “The plan was to have an all-rounder, but we had to restructure because of the bank holidays and delays in funding and sponsorship. So we’ve changed now on the golf course and we’re doing a normal carnival party instead of an all-out party.”
He said the organization also didn’t want people to feel the event was only for a “special class of people.
“When we worked it out, we decided to make a change. So I feel comfortable from my point of view. So we have a good feeling going into our event on Saturday.”
