Herman ‘Cupid’ Francis
A calypso veteran for more than 20 years, Keithroy ‘De Bear’ Morson and veteran Herman ‘Cupid’ Francis, have both been speaking out on calypso competitions in the sub region, following firstly, the Antigua Carnival calypso competition and the more recent Leeward Islands calypso competition held annually in Anguilla.
‘Cupid’ is the Cupid is a fourth time calypso monarch winning last time at the heralded Festival 50 celebrations in Montserrat singing ‘Just after take-off’ at Festival City last December. However the one other competition he participates in each time he wins the crown is the Leeward Islands calypso competition in Anguilla, and this keeps eluding him, he has never won even though he has placed in the top three.
Following the recent competition only last week in Anguilla Cupid is speaking out as he told reporters on his return, while he accepts the results as final he has decided to reconsider his future participation in the competition. He said that he is confident that he represented Montserrat well at the 2013 Leeward Island Calypso competition last Saturday.
“It’s something I have to think about, I would like Montserrat to be represented again. I once thought if Montserrat is going to have an impact on that show that it would have to be me. I’m reviewing that thinking now and I’m wondering who we have on Montserrat that could do it,” he told reporters.
“I mean Candi been there, Silk been there, Cepeki been there, Tabu been there and somehow we don’t seem to create the impact,” he lamented.
Commenting that he has placed in the top three on two occasions, Cupid said also. “I just missed the top three, but this year was a disaster and I’m not sure why.”
He commented on the judging which seems to come in for criticism year after year in that competiton. “Quite a number of the calypsonians sang about their own country,” he said. “A calypsonian has to be careful with that but if they are satisfied that the issue that they are singing about is sufficiently widespread…then I think the judges should accept that.”
Cupid noted there is a focus in Anguilla, “and I realise that if I’m going to go there and win, I have to do some research about what is going on in Anguilla and either sing about that or weave it into my song one way or the other,” he said finally, assuring that he plans to defend his local crown.
“I’m thinking about the right topic and how I’m going to go forward in making sure that I win that crown now – but I think just to be the Montserrat calypso monarch is a privilege in itself and I’ll be competing harder,” he warned.
Keithroy ‘DeBear’ Morson
Keithroy ‘DeBear’ Morson
On the other hand DeBear, with 10 crowns under his belt, from Montserrat, Antigua and Anguilla, was demolished in his defense of firstly his crown in Antigua, according to him and many supporters and pundits, not by his competitors but by the calypso judges in the Antigua carnival competition. In defending his crown, he did not place in the top three, like some of his main contenders. This is what he had to say. “I went there to do what I do best and that’s compete and compete at the highest standard that I’m capable of doing. I think I did that the night of the show,” adding, “I think there were elements there, more than just calypso judging that cause me to not place, but as they say, ‘the judge’s decision is final’.”
After the stunning results which dethroned him in the Antigua competition, he is again calling for a change in the judging system to ensure fairness in calypso and other competitions. He says, “There should be two head judges there to look at disparities and deal with them before it comes to the public because you know when you have judges come there with their bias, they can come there and just do what they want to do. And, because they know what they do is final, they can always punish the calypsonian for some reason or another.”
Saying it needs to be like is done in the Supreme Court, “…just like you have the supreme court that looks over judgment from a judge,”
His take on it, “they analyze and look at the disparities and deal with them before it’s given out to the public and I think we’ll have a fairer understanding about how to judge calypso,” he concluded as a means to minimizing any disparities in the judges’ decisions.
De Bear made some suggestions on what can possibly be done to minimize any disparities in the judge’s decisions.
Questioning the young veteran, about changing his approach especially, with comments that he should not be as outspoken as he is and how he plans to proceed, he had this to say: “No you just bide your time,” he says, “you can’t be there forever, you can’t change, if you change you change the whole game, you change the whole purpose, the purpose of what you were called to do so sometimes you have to just take a different direction.”
DeBear said, directly quoting various politicians as to what they said finally: “You don’t know what they are going to come after you, so you have to just change the way you do it.” He explains, “when I say different, I mean technique. Instead of forcing it at them you ease up you let them feel that you’ve given up. You don’t keep pushing, just relax and let them get careless, and when they get careless now, then you can know when to strike…”
On the say DeBear commented: “…people up here want you to hide what you know. It is a country of hiding. Them love to hide truth, they don’t love to say what it is, because they are hoping that at the end of the day they could get setup…I am not looking for no set up from nobody. If I see something wrong I’m going to say it’s wrong, I am not going compromise my honesty and my character…I know and I’m not afraid to tell what they did. I am open enough to tell them what they did.”
