All up in the air

Veteran entertainer, Anderson Mr Impact Ward, is once more vying for the coveted Pic-O-De-Crop title with his social commentary Ah Waiting To Hear De Verdict.

Mr Impact who is performing with newly formed Shining Stars Calypso Show said Juliana Julie Sealy asked him if he would be interested in being a part of the show.

“I told her I would give it a go. As a former member of Hennessey Hit Parade Calypso Tent, I thought someone [should] try to get the members back together as we had a very good unit back then. When Julie came up with the idea for her calypso tent, I said run with it,” he stated.

Mr Impact explained that Julie had a hand in how the song came to be.

“She advised me to go to Andy Williams as he has quite a few songs that he is looking at. There was one particular song she checked that might suit me. We went through the songs and [Andy] gave me an instrumental and a printout of the lyrics,” he said.

Mr Impact explained the song speaks about some of the social issues of the last ten years.

“This song deals with the things that happened in the last administration and tries to put a spin on it to get a peek at the present as well,” he said.

He believes his chances of reaching the finals in Pic-O-De-Crop is as good as any other and he will be doing his best on the judging of the Shining Stars Calypso Show on July 19, 2019.

He noted that his power soca song, Up In De Air, was ‘his hit’ and has received a lot of rotation on the radio. However, he was surprised that the song did not advance to the semifinals of the Soca Monarch.

“This is the first time in a long time that I have ever [received] so much airplay on the young people stations. I am talking about 98.1 and Starcom, but the majority at CBC. Special shout outs to DJ Ras and Admiral Nelson and all the other deejays that play my song. I was surprised it did not qualify for the Soca Monarch. I will go and give my support and wheel and come again,” he said.

Mr Impact noted he would like the Soca Monarch to be judged differently. “I would still like this competition to be judged on stage and not from a CD. Really and truly, I think we can do better than this,” he said.

Mr Impact said closing the show for Shining Stars Calypso Show was a pleasure which was handed to him by Julie.

“The grand finale with the party song Up In De Air last Friday night – I have to give kudos to Julie for all the spectacle that you saw – the shaggy bear, the dancers, the stilts, they were all management. Seeing I did not make it to the Soca Monarch semis, I did not plan on investing anything more on stage. Julie had mentioned that she would have a grand finale, and I was even surprised to see all of that behind me and I had to watch where I stepped. It was great and I think Shining Stars Calypso Show will do well in the future once everyone keeps focussed and don’t let their egos take over,” he said. (LG)