HELON FRANCIS has been crowned the National Calypso Monarch.
On the "big stage" at Dimanche Gras in the Queen's Park Savannah, on Sunday, Francis topped a field of 12 in the finals to capture his second crown since first winning in 2018. His feat was all the more impressive as the finals saw a field that included seven past monarchs including himself.
Francis's song, To Whom It May Be, helped him edge Kurt Allen The Last Bardjohn of Calypso, by one point. Allen sang a political critique, Your Turn.
Clear crowd favourite Akhenaton "Yung Bredda" Lewis placed third with his anthem-like call to action, We Rise.
Performing his rallying cry to the nation, Yung Bredda got viewers to keenly wave their hands in support while he sang. When he left the stage, the Grand Stand went wild, demanding that he return for an encore. Later, the crowd shouted its disappointment and disapproval that he had not placed higher.
[caption id="attachment_1142154" align="alignnone" width="1024"] CROWD FAVOURITE: Akhenaton "Yung Bredda" Lewis was the clear crowd favourite at the calypso monarch finals but placed third. - Photo by Jeff K. Mayers[/caption]
Karene Asche placed fourth with what are surely her pre-general election guidelines in A Leader.
Defending champion, Machel Montano, fresh from his win on Saturday in the Chutney Soca Monarch, placed fifth with Bet Yah, a song which continued his thrust from last year's calypso monarch winning performance to blur the line between soca and calypso.
Montano's overall production was captivating, including dressing like a jockey, levitating dangerously high above the stage, lively dancers and a dog greedily scoffing down doubles in a retort to criticisms of the popular street food by Jamaican dancehall artiste Beenie Man.
Yet, seemingly, Montano's lyrical content did not impact sufficiently. He got a big crowd cheer but it was nowhere near the explosive roar that greeted Yung Bredda.
Rounding out the finals were Roderick "Chuck" Gordon (sixth), Duane Ta'zyah O'Connor (seventh), Terri Lyons (eighth), Samraj "Rikki Jai" Jaimungal (ninth), Young King champ Anthony "Squeezy Rankin" La Fleur (tenth), Rosalyn Reid Haynes (11th) and Ann Marie "Twiggy" Parks-Kojo who placed 12th.
'THIS FEELS SURREAL'
Speaking moments after the crown was placed on his head, Francis told reporters about his journey which saw his cool, stoic delivery of a non-partisan and non-judgemental story of him writing a letter to Prime Minister-select Stuart Young, offering quiet words of advice such as, "keeping your ear to the ground."
[caption id="attachment_1142151" align="alignnone" width="1024"] CALL ME KING: Helon Francis who was crowned new calypso monarch at the Dimanche Gras on Sunday at the Queen's Park Savannah in Port of Spain. Photo by Jeff K. Mayers[/caption]
When asked by Newsday, he saluted Yung Bredda, who has already won hearts with his song Greatest Bend Over, which won him second place in the Ultimate Soca Championship.
"This feels surreal," the modest and soft-spoken Francis said hi
