Calypsonian crowned Guyana’s chutney king

By Bhisham Mohamed

Calypsonian, Roger “Young Bill Rogers” Hinds on Saturday night beat a field of outstanding local chutney singers to capture the Chutney Soca Monarchy at the finals held at the National Cultural Centre (NCC).
Though the judges’ decision did not go down well with the audience, the one-time calypso king outshone his 15 rivals with his song titled “A Chutney Fuh Meh Larki”.
Observers say the song did not do justice to the chutney industry, but for some reason it won the hearts of the judges whose decision was final.
Wearing a simple kurta suit (Indian wear), with a head wrap and performing without props, Hinds utilised the stage well to belt out his song. Heading into the competition on Saturday evening, the favourites to capture the title were former Chutney Queen, Fiona Singh; 2012 Chutney Soca Monarch Haresh Singh; Pooran Singh and Prince JP, but to the surprise of the audience, Fiona Singh was awarded the second spot and Haresh Singh, the third position, while the others were not placed.
The best new comer prize was awarded to Vanita Willie with her entry “My Guyana Chutney”.
In spite of an excellent performance by Prince JP with his already popular tune “No Curfew” and Pooran Singh with his entry “Jheera”, they were not favoured by the judges, who had their hidden agendas or had no idea about the concept of chutney/soca.
According to the judges, the performance was judged in three categories: namely melody, rendition and presentation, but this made their decision more questionable after one would have seen all 16 performances.
Now that the competition is over, the winner will be representing Guyana in Trinidad and Tobago on January 26.

He is expected to compete with some on the biggest names in the industry, including reigning International Chutney Soca/Monarch Kris Persad (KI); Rick Romotar; Saleem Beharry (Stinky); Neshard; Rikki Jai and others.
Can young Bill Rogers step up his game to get close to the international monarchy? That is the question that is lingering in the minds of  the public since before this competition, no one heard of Bill Rogers in the chutney arena. The pre-hype before the competition was limited since the organising committee refused to place advertisements in the media. Apart from the committee members, there were a few judges who confessed that they were called at the last minute and asked to be a judge without their having any knowledge about chutney music.  All the hype leading up to the competition was created by the artistes themselves via social networks including Twitter, Facebook and the now popular BlackBerry Messenger (BBM).
The night started with Culture, Youth and Sport Minister Dr Frank Anthony wishing all the contestants the very best while at the same time reiterated that the judges’ decision is final. He also urged the audience to respect the decision of the judges, and moreso encouraged the artistes to show sportsmanship.