ST. GEORGE, GRENADA, July 12, 2011 – On July 7, 2011, One hundred and forty two (142) persons began the journey to the final of the GCC – LIME Soca Monarch and challenge the reigning King, Otis. The Soca caravan traversed the towns of Gouyave, Victoria, Sauteurs and La Saggesse. Each stop saw approximately thirty five (35) persons lobbying the panel of judges to remain on the caravan for its voyage to the town of Grenville on July 22.
When the final scores were tallied, five (5) artistes, who performed in St. John, eight (8) performers from St. Mark, seven (7) from St. Patrick and ten (10) from St. David earned the right to be called 2011 GCC – LIME Soca Monarch semifinalists. Patrons were intrigued with the performances witnessed at the various venues and persons are excited about the prospects for Bacchanal Friday, August 5.
A mere seven points separated the top five finishers, which is a clear indication that the race to this year’s title will be a tough one. Further scrutiny of the judges’ decision showed that there was an eleven (11) point differential between position #9 and position #21. One pundit also pointed to the distribution of the locations from which the semifinalists came as a clear indication of the quality of the shows and the competitiveness of this year’s race for the car.
Four (4) artistes from the sister isle will be joining Carriacou’s Soca Monarch, Super Star, in the semifinal slated for Victoria Park in Grenville. This is a record number of acts from outside of the mainland to reach this level in any single year. As expected, this caused a wave of excitement on the sister isles and journalist, Rawle Patterson warned that great support can be expected for the artistes when they climb the stage on July 22.
Officials from both the GCC and Title sponsor of the event, LIME, have expressed great satisfaction with the level of competition thus far and pledge to make this premiere event of Spicemas even better in 2011 with a number of surprise guest appearances and special awards.