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History made as 5 Grenadian Acts compete at the International Soca Monarch semi-finals

It was sheer pandemonium last night as Grenadians home and abroad glued to the International Soca Monarch semis stage to witness history. It was the first time that so many Grenadian artistes competed, 5 acts: Mr. Killa, Lil Natty & Thunda, and Mr. Mr. Legz in the power category; and Mandella Linkz and V’ghn in the Groovy category.

They all gave exceptional performances, showing that they truly believed that this was one of the most important competitions of their career. To top it off, they all made it into the finals of the competition on Fantastic Friday the 1st March.

The International Soca Monarch is the most revered competition in Soca; won multiple times by Machel Montano multiple times and more recently a three-peat by Voice. This year sees the return of two separate categories power and groovy under the stewardship of a former monarch, Fay Ann Lyons.

Registration opens for the International Soca Monarch on Monday 21 January

Soca artistes in and out of the Caribbean can now brace themselves for a chance to compete in the finals of International Soca Monarch on Fantastic Friday, 1 March 2019 in Trinidad & Tobago. The dates for registration and the list of events were announced at a press conference on Tuesday, 15 January with newly appointed chairperson of the Caribbean Prestige Foundation for the Performing Arts, Fay-Ann Lyons Alvarez.

Registration: Monday, 21 January to Friday, 25 January 2019

Announcement of Semi-finalists: Saturday, 26 January 2019

International Soca Monarch Semi-finals: Sunday, 10 February 2019 at Arima Velodrome

International Soca Monarch Finals: Friday, 1 March 2019 at Queen’s Park Savannah

Fay-Ann, famously known for winning both Power & Groovy Soca Monarch competitions in 2009 while pregnant was happy to announce that the separation of 2 Soca categories is back for this year’s competition. In 2016 the International Soca Monarch (ISM) held one competition that judged all speeds of Soca that saw Voice winning consecutively for 3 years.

As the new chairperson of the foundation, she believes in ensuring that the ISM is more than a one-time event on Carnival Friday, but rather seen as a festival. Lyons Alvarez is excited to create avenues for young upcoming artistes and to incorporate social media platforms in marketing which were not present years ago.