On the blink...

Going home for carnival 2011 mashed me up all how, but systems are now reloading and the Assassin will soon be back on line...

Shal Marshall - Doh Drag D Flag

I have to say I like this one!!

Fay Ann coming hard on Fantastic Friday

Fay Ann Lyons-Alvarez

Lyrically, she is ready for Fantastic Friday. Physically, she is prepared and judging by the look of last Sunday’s semifinal round performance, the woman who in 2009 walked away with both the Groovy and Power Monarchs, is more than ready for the on-stage rivalry. The T&T Guardian caught up with Fay Ann Lyons-Alvarez last evening. In a brief chat, she said the vibe in her camp as the days drew closer was good.

“I am confident of my song and my chances,” she said. “We’ve been in this for some years and we have a more than in depth idea of what the competition is like.” For the soca empress, whose father Austin “Super Blue” Lyons had for years, ruled the Carnival circuit, the Soca Monarch competition means that lyrics and melody must be second to none. “Plenty times you find artistes don’t focus a lot on lyrics and melody and they won’t get the crowd’s response,” she said.

“Another artiste, on the other hand, may have a popular song but they won’t get the crowd response because their music lacks these elements.” On the issue of what’s seemingly an on-stage bit of rivalry between Machel Montano and Destra Garcia who’ve both been chosen to enter this year’s competition, Fay Ann said such is always the case. “The rivalry exists all the time,” she said. “It exists among the women in the industry...this one find she should be number one and so on.”

The Consider It Done hit-maker, however, says the only difference this time around is the fact that Destra brought the issues into the realm of her fans and supporters of the competition. “I compete with Bunji all the time, but it’s not that you compete, it’s how you deal with the rivalry,” she said. Indicating that she herself was sometimes dubbed aggressive, Lyons-Alvarez argued that one could be aggressive and right, and aggressive with some level of class. She says the problem escalates when disrespectful language and attitudes are meted out in the public domain.

All in all, Fay Ann Lyons-Alvarez is ready for whatever showdown may present itself on March 4.

“My aim is to survive this Carnival with my sanity because there’s been a lot of nonsense going on publicly and professionally,” she hinted. She, however, says like each year, she focuses on making music that can take her well into another Carnival, regardless of whether she wins the competitions or not. In the meantime, as the heat of Fantastic Friday’s Soca In The City theme penetrates the land, fans, supporters and even ill-speakers can rest assured that Fay Ann Lyons is coming hard on competition night.

Aba A Luke

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Overtime Interview: Brian Mac Farlane.

Overtime TT has provided us with an inside view of Brian Mac Farlanes  mas camp as they  produce the 2011 presentation ‘ Humanity  the cycle of life.’  With one interview into this mas camp the arguments of culture killers such as Luis Hart and Dean Akin who attempt to convince Trinidadians that they are not good enough to produce top quality mas HAS BEEN SHATTERD.

I guess no one told the folks at the 5 time band of the year award winning camp they did not have what it takes ...pay attention to the video the people at Mac Farlane’s camp are making use of materials such as newspaper, cane, bristalboard, and bottle caps, and you can bet another band of the year title is in sight, and yes, it’s just as the man said Mas is an art form, and there are levels of science applied to it. And all will agree this is mas at its highest level, this is High Mas!

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The stages almost ready ...the Church ready too!

AMEN and AMEN

OVERTIMETT Interviews Stephen Derek.

This is the most eye opening Stephen Derek interview I’ve seen in a long time.  I have to give the people at OVERTIMETT.COM kudos for the foresight applied in interviewing one of the few living producing band leader/ mas men whose name is called in the same group of legends such as Minshall, Berkley, Bailey, and LeeHung.

Stephen Derek

Stephen Derek born in 1952 is the absolute mas man he designs and constructs his works and is without a doubt a cultural ambassador for Trinidad and Tobago as he has taken mas and the art form of mas around the world. In this interview Derek not only talks of his band and his contribution to mas over the years, but he also criticises the current crop of “band leaders” and bikini bands that he calls “two piece and fries “, he also

mentions some critical truths about those that market the festival to shores outside Trinidad.

Once again, kudos must be given to Overtimett.com for providing a fantastic interview with a living legend of the carnival art form mas.

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Carnival Snippets

The Trinidad Express have added a carnival page on their website  providing photos and video clips of the fetes, pan yards, and calypso tents etc  around Trinidad and Tobago, so here are a couple of snippets of the fetes and performances that  have already gone.

Feel that carnival spirit rising people, it’s almost time...