Soca veteran Iwer George showed once again that he still has what it takes to take the Power Soca Monarch title home. Yes! Iwer mashed up the place over in Trinidad where he beat out artistes like Shurwayne Winchester, Patrice Roberts and others. Bajan, Biggie Irie left as the first non-Trinidadian to win the Groovy Soca Monarch title.

On Friday evening, they held the International Soca Monarch competition in two categories, Groovy & Power soca. Finalists were up against last year’s winner of both categories, Shurwayne Winchester. Biggie Irie led in points during the semi-finals and proved to be the favorite among the judges Friday night. Performing his hit, “Nah Go Home,” Biggie Irie had a simple, yet effective presentation with revelers and a rhythm section. Chippin along the stage, Biggie Irie’s strong voice had the crowd moving considering it was still early in the evening.

Blackie performed first and was not very impressive. Patrice Roberts had a line of male dancers to accompany her on stage for her presentation of, “Sugar Boy.” The song has been very popular this season, but the performance itself was bland. Nadia Batson had one of the best presentations for the evening while performing her song, “Caribbean Girl.” The colorful attire of her dress and those of her dancers looked great on stage, though her vocals weren’t quite as good as they could have been. Shurwayne Winchester had a decent presentation with dancers and the musical arrangement deserved applause. Shurwayne sounded good, though the song didn’t seem to keep the crowd entertained very much. Crazy performed his hit song of the season, “Cold Sweat.” While the song has been very popular, his presentation was not a hit with the judges. Dressed in a red suit, Crazy’s performance began as he sat on a throne with female dancers wining in front of him. The presentation looked very much like one of a strip club, and while comical, I knew right away he’d probably blew any chance of winning the competition.

Blazer and Fireball looked as if they’d shopped at the same store for the white suits with red shirts. Chucky’s performance was good, and he did a tribute to past soca monarchs by singing a medley of older songs. While a great idea, I thought it should not have been allowed, as it seemed like he was practically begging for points. Apparently the judges didn’t think so. Chucky placed second, and Nadia Batson and Shurwayne Winchester taking third and fourth respectively. The winner, Biggie Irie (of Barbados), was also the first non-Trinidadian to win the competition.

Starting off the Power Soca competition was Dawg E. Slaughter with his song, “Spread The Love.” Accompanying him on stage to hype up the crowd was popular Miami DJ, Walshy Killa. The performance was rather dull and the vocals could have been much better. This was his first year entering the competition, but it didn’t look like he came to win. Patrice Roberts’ vocals came across very well with her song, “Light It Up.” She commanded her crowd well but the song itself wasn’t up to par with her winning road march song of 2006, “Band Of The Year.” Fayanne Lyons looked great in her mas costume for her performance of, “Make Ah Stage (M.A.S).”Almost half of her performance was spent telling the crowd to move and make a circle, and I’m sure the judges noticed. Barbados’ Barry Chandler had a nice presentation with moko jumbies and dancers for his song, “Flames.” He lacked back vocals which would have helped, but the transition for him to play the timbales drums wasn’t very smooth. The elaborate presentation proved to be too much. Denise Belfon and Minmi both had songs about dances, but neither one did a great job in delivery.

Iwer George, a veteran in the competition, had the crowd eating out of his hands with, “Fete After Fete.” While I think the song is far from his best, I must admit the crowd loved the performance and Iwer had them reciting the song word for word. Nadia Batson had a great presentation and her vocals were on point. Accompanied by Kees Dieffenthaller, I think his presence may have hurt her points slightly. Shurwayne Winchester put on a grand performance with pyrotechnics and a large gate for his entrance to his song, “Open the Gate.” If judged on presentation alone, Shurwayne would have taken it, but it was no match for Iwer’s performance who placed first. Nadia Batson took second, and Shurwayne and Patrice Roberts placed third and fourth. Congratulations to all winners and contestants as it takes a lot of hard work to even reach the finals. That’s my time for this week. Stay tuned next week for more carnival entertainment news and info on some upcoming soca fetes coming to the area.