12 of the region’s Junior Calypso Monarchs are set to go head to head in August of this year as the inaugural Caribbean Junior Monarch Competition was launched in Barbados on January 12th, 2017.
The brainchild of Cultural Creative Inc. and fully endorsed by primary partner UNICEF, The Caribbean Junior Monarch competition – the first of its kind in the region – is aimed to stimulate the continued legacy of the calypso art form. As revealed by Mr. Julian Arthur, Director of Cultural Creative Inc., “the competition is not only a way to breathe new life into the Calypso arena at the junior level but is a platform to develop the art form from a young age, thus creating sustainability in an area that is a cultural signature of the Caribbean”.
The competition seeks to provide a stage for the young artiste to not only compete against each other for the title of Caribbean Junior Monarch but also allows for them to be exposed to a plethora of elements of the art form as workshops and seminars will be conducted prior to the event. This aspect of the competition has been further boosted as Soca Queen Allison Hinds has signed on as mentor to the contestants and will be actively working with them individually prior to the competition. Other major artist from across the region will also act as mentors to the junior calypsonians.
In addition, the partnership with UNICEF will allow for every contestant to be designated an UNICEF Youth Advocate in their respective territory – a title they will hold for a one year period, post competition. This title allows them to be advocates not only for themselves and for other children on child-related issues but is driven by their participation and representation in community youth events and festivals.
St. Kitts and Nevis is the first territory to sign on to the competition having done so on Boxing Day (December 25, 2016) as winner of their inaugural Teenage Junior Monarch Competition Tiquan “Mighty T” McDowell will represent his country. To date 11 other territories have pledged their partnership with the CJMC as their representatives will be chosen at the various local competitions leading up to the August 19th event.
To ensure that the competition maintains its regional integrity the five judges selected to crown a winner will be randomly drawn at a special press briefing on June 3rd, 2017 in Anguilla following the completion of that territory’s local junior monarch competition. Of note is that the judging panel will consist of one judge from the host territory and the other four will be selected from a pool of regional judges as submitted by participating territories.
Another element to the competition which also hopes to drive interest will be a Trophy design competition opened to entries from across the region. More details of that competition will be released subsequently.
– Press Release
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
