MASSASSINATION.: First Queen of the Bands

First Queen of the Bands | Massassination2:

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Esther Theodore

TRINIDAD'S first Queen of the Bands, Esther Theodore, had ascended the throne in 1959 in the midst of controversy over the disparity in prize money paid at the Dimanche Gras show.

Ironically, the calypso finalists in this year's competition threatened to boycott the event over the failure to increase the top prize to $1 million.

The Carnival Queen was then a beauty pageant and received several thousand dollars in prize money.

The Calypso King prize was a mere $50. Out of the disparity came the restructuring of the show by removing the Carnival Queen segment and replacing it with the judging of a Queen of the Bands.
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