3 Guyanese to compete in International Chutney Monarch

Three Guyanese have been shortlisted out of a total of 65 applicants around the world to participate in the International Chutney Monarch which will be held virtually in Trinidad and Tobago. The artistes are Vanita Willie, Vicadi Singh and Tony Cuttz.
The others who made it through to compete in the competition are Joel Davis, Navin Yankaran and Keith Bishop of Canada; Damian Sookram and Prince JP of New York.
In an interview with Guyana Times, Joel Pharous said he is representing Guyana and New York, and continues to make music for Guyanese fans. He was ecstatic for being shortlisted for the International Chutney Monarch 2021.
He entered the competition with his newest single “It is over” which has been creating some vibes on both the local and international scene. The song was written by the father of three and recorded in his studio in Queens, New York. It was mixed and mastered by Maha Studios out of Trinidad and Tobago.
This single was released about six months ago and has secured more than 600,000 views on Youtube. He is optimistic to reach the finals of the competition. He, nevertheless, is working on another single titled “Love You” which will be released for Valentine’s Day.
The humble Guyanese artist remains thankful to his fans, family and supporters as he embarks on this new and exciting journey.
However, the Trinidadians have dominated the lineup with several seasoned artistes shortlisted to compete. The Trinidadian lineup includes Saleem Beharry, Daddy Chinee “Ricardo Melville, Rasika Dindial, Riz & Theatrics, Surendra Ramoutar, Derrick Seales, Nigel Gobin, Russel Mohammed, Rajesh Sylvester, Prince Navin Prabhoo, Krishna Ramdass, Sangeeta Harrypersad, Amit Sagram, Anthony Batson, Neeshad Sultan, “Dr Tunes” – Kess Ramroop”, Mr Nice Vibes, Jairam Dindial, Veejai Ramkissoon, Reshma Ramlal, Shiva Lakhan, Nisha Ramsook, Adesh Samaroo, Edward Ramdass, Cherish Ragoonanan, Dubraj Persad, Kenneth Supersad and Avinash Sookraj.
However, at the close of registration on Friday, January 15, 2021, 65 artistes had registered to compete in the 26th Annual Chutney Monarch but after screening, 36 artistes will now move to the second stage of the competition.
Of the 65 registered artistes, 13 applications came through agents in Canada, the United States and Guyana.
The semi-final round will be pre-recorded and packaged into two segments and will be aired on January 30 and 31, through the CSM Official Media Partners, CNC3, Sangeet106.1 and through various social media pages which include Facebook and YouTube.
A “text 2 vote” element is being reintroduced in 2021 to make the event more interactive and more exciting for the viewing public that will now be open to persons across the globe.
The show will be pre-packaged and open only to an “online” audience.
Nevertheless, over the years, Carnival’s biggest audience has now become the “online” audience, and this presents opportunities for Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean artistes to showcase their culture to the world.
“We must congratulate all artistes, producers, musicians, songwriters, video producers, and dancers for the efforts that have been made during this very trying time not only in Trinidad and Tobago, or the Caribbean, but the world at large. Our agents in Guyana, Canada and the USA have also done an amazing job in getting their artistes on board and registered, as this will make this year’s event more global and more encompassing for the Chutney Soca industry,” Director of CSM, George Singh stated in a release to the media.
In addition, the event will be fashioned to a similar format as other internationally renowned TV shows such as AGT and The Voice, and will be fun and exciting to look at. The “text 2 vote” element will also add to ensuring that the event is interactive and getting full audience participation.
Meanwhile, the biggest challenge this year will be sponsorship but the committee is confident that it will be able to achieve the goals set out.
“We are still presently in talks with our annual sponsors – the NLCB and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism – that have been very supportive over the last 20 years of this event. Producers are also looking at setting up a link for people to be able to donate to the event if they wish to do so. It must be reiterated, however, that the event will remain ‘free’ to the viewing public. The option to donate will be voluntary,” Singh noted.
The grand final of the CSM will be aired on Carnival Saturday, February 13, 2021.