Trinidad Express is reporting that Bunji Garlin has won the Soca Monarch 2005 competition in Trinidad and Tobago for his second victory in two years. In second place was Shurwayne Winchester followed by Iwer George.
Bunji Garlin is still the reigning International Soca Monarch after having let loose a firestorm upon all who challenged him at Friday night's final of the competition at the Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain.
The task was no easy one, however, as all competitors battled valiantly in their efforts to dethrone the man who is now popularly known as the "Keeper of the Flame". The most volatile challenge to Garlin's reign came from Shurwayne Winchester, who placed second with only one point separating him from Garlin.
Performing in ninth position, Garlin opened his presentation of "Blaze it Up" with a short film shown on the big screens positioned on the flanks and centre of the massive stage. The narration in the film cited Garlin as the ultimate gladiator preparing for battle against evil as he appeared on screen dressed in an all black samurai suit. A fire-breathing dragon then attacked Garlin who eventually slew it with a sword.
As the music kicked in, Garlin was seen descending onto the stage in a flaming chariot of sorts. In fact, flames seemed to be shooting out of his body as the cherry picker moved slowly down. By this time the crowd had gone mad as flames shot to the sky from within the audience. Several body builders, costumed as gladiators, escorted Garlin out of the chariot as he began to chant.
"My fire is not a carnal fire, but a cleansing fire anointed by Jesus Christ to burn out all evil," Garlin proclaimed as the people cheered him on. He then called on the audience to give a round of applause to Iwer George who had performed right before Garlin, using a water truck to spray the crowd.
But then Garlin shouted, "No water could out my fire", before launching into a freestyle chant in which he informed Iwer that nothing he did could win the Soca Monarch title for him.
Several fire-eaters then appeared on stage and began to spit fire as Garlin disappeared for a few minutes. He reappeared wearing a pyrosuit, which was lit and quickly engulfed Garlin in flames -ending the crowd even further into frenzy. After some seconds the suit was pulled off and firemen began to spray water on the artiste as he raised his hands to the cheering crowd before exiting the stage.
Garlin scored a total of 442 points to win the first prize of $150,000 cash, as well as a further $10,000 as he also copped the TSTT People's Choice Award.
Winchester scored 441 points to place second and take home $100,000 cash.
Garlin said yesterday that he never took it for granted that he would retain the title and gave thanks to God for the blessing. He was also thankful that there were no incidents that may have caused injury or death during his presentation, which featured the heavy use of fire.
"I just want to thank God that nothing happened that could have caused disaster. As you know, Man never has total control over the elements we worked with last night and anything could have gone wrong as it has in the past for other artistes. God was in control and He made sure that everything went well. Also, Thursday was my mother's birthday and when I asked her what she wanted, she told me to just go and win the Soca Monarch," Garlin told the Sunday Express.
Like with Garlin, the crowd continued to call for Winchester minutes after he had exited the stage. And, even as the stage was being set for Knycky Cordner's presentation, the crowd was chanting incessantly, "Bunji, Shurwayne".
Iwer too received this treatment following his performance of "Tension". He scored a total of 417 points to place third.
Winchester said yesterday that everything seemed to be going wrong as he prepared for the final.
In an interview with the Sunday Express, Winchester said: "I thank God for bringing me through because it seemed that everything that could have gone wrong did as we prepared for the final. I really don't want to get into it at this time, but let's just say that it is God who pulled me through. The focus now switches to the road."
Winchester is the reigning Road March king.
Faye-Ann Lyons, like Garlin, appeared from the top of the stage coming down in a cherry picker and wearing a very skimpy costume. Accompanied by several dancers in mas costumes and with her sister Terri lending support on vocals, Lyons delivered a fantastic rendition of "Wave", keeping the crowd jumping non-stop throughout her presentation that lasted the better part of seven minutes. Lyons scored 383 points to place fourth.
Although there were 17 competitors only the top four places were announced.
The night also featured the final of the first ever Groovy Soca Monarch Competition in which nine artistes vied for the first prize of $50,000. Copping the title of Groovy Soca Monarch was Michelle Sylvester who sang "Sleeping In Your Bed". This is the second major title claimed by Sylvester during the season as she won the International Female Soca Monarch title last Thursday.
Second place in the Groovy Soca Monarch Competition went to the vocal quartet H2O PHLO with their performance of "Come Baby". Although the group experienced several problems with the audio during their performance they managed to hold it together and still moved the audience. Third was Blackie who sang his runaway hit "Ah Hook". Blackie added a few new lyrics that had the crowd cheering him on as he danced about the stage.
This year's run of the International Soca Monarch may have attracted the largest crowd ever as thousands were crammed in the cricket field and thousands more filled the stands. Although there were no major incidents, there were several fights, some of them deep inside of the crowd and away from the eyes of the police. Several men were literally dragged out of the venue by police after they were caught causing trouble.
There were several times during both competitions when there were audio problems, most notably during Garlin's performance and those of the competitors connected to his Godfatherz Asylum Crew, including Faye-Ann Lyons, Patrice Roberts, and Benjai & Scar.
