Allrounder shows youths how it’s done
By David Cuffy (T&T Guardian)
“Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter,” is a quote attributed to the late comedian Jack Benny. He must have had veteran calypsonian Allrounder (Anthony Hendrickson) in mind, I mused, after viewing the performance of the 70-something-year-old bard in the Groovy Soca Monarch segment of the semifinal round of the International Power Soca and Groovy Soca Monarch competitions held at the Arima Velodrome on Sunday.
It is said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, and in many respects that is true. However, that cliché seems not to fit Allrounder. The performance of his Wine song was just as energetic, raunchy, and at the same mind-numbing decibel level as any showcased by the younger competitors. “Arima people, is a youth man calling yuh,” he intoned at the start, meriting crowd approval that lasted throughout his time on stage, and culminated with wild cheering at the end.
Indeed, the oldest competitor in the semifinal proved to non-believers that maturity, experience, dedication and ingenuity can more than make up for a little senescence. The activity got off to an on-time 6 pm start before a small crowd that would blossom into a mammoth gathering before the night was over. Late arrivals missed the contributions of popular contenders Blaxx, Denise Belfon, Patch and Benjai, but would later on express their unbridled joy with full choral participation to the offerings of Destra, Patrice Roberts, Kerwin DuBois, Kees, and others.
A distinctive feature of the “Groovy” segment, in which there were 29 competitors, was the proliferation of songs highlighting “wining,” complemented with, for the most part, creative, well-choreographed movements by accompanying loose-limbed, talented, energetic dancers. Almost four hours after the start, the segment ended, but not before the by-now-large audience was further entertained by a recorded version of the official “soca monarch song,” and snippets of selections that went on to win past Soca Monarch competitions, inclusive of SuperBlue’s (Austin Lyons) hugely popular Bacchanal Time, and Get Something and Wave, and Ronnie McIntosh’s participatory E’nt and How It Go Look.
The “Power” segment got off to a 10.10 pm start with Ajala appearing in the opening slot. Based on the same number of qualifiers (29) listed to present their selections before the adjudication panel, it was calculated that the semifinal leg of competition would not end before 2 am yesterday. Guardian Media Ltd is one of the official sponsors of the competition.
