Soca Rumble offers car and prize money to 12 finalists

This year’s lone exclusive Soca competition, the Hott 95.3 Soca Rumble, was launched on Tuesday morning putting thousands of dollars in prizes up for grabs.

Chief Executive Producer Adrian Clarke confirmed that the winner will receive a car and $15 000. No other details on the car were given. He also announced that the second-place performer will be awarded $30 000; third place $20 000 and fourth place $10 000.

Soca Rumble will be held on July 31 and it promises to be quite the spectacle with registration for artistes now open.

Speaking during a press briefing on Tuesday at the Bushy Park race circuit where the show will be held, Clarke told media representatives that a minimum of $7 000 would also be allocated for competitors falling in the fifth to 12-placed spots.

He said there has been reasonable interest from artistes to the inaugural privately-organised competition.

“I didn’t count the numbers but I have had persons sending me queries on Facebook and WhatsApp asking about the competition and the first question is how can they register. I don’t know how many will but I know that there are some who are asking,” he said.

The producer added that the show is one for the future even if other organisers choose to put on a soca show next year.

“We can hold a show even if somebody comes back and chooses to hold theirs. So yes, we would have it. You had bashment competitions before and they don’t have it now but we are doing this and we don’t know if they would come back to do theirs. The onus would be on the artistes to decide which competition they would enter,” he said.

The organiser made it clear that competitors can enter in one of the three sub-genres: Bashment Soca, Sweet Soca and Power Soca.

Clarke also explained that only 12 artistes would be allowed to advance to the finals straight from the preliminaries. Registration will end on July 5 for those seeking a spot.

Head of Marketing with Ocean Gem Productions Ardith Burgess said that Soca Rumble is the perfect opportunity for artistes to showcase their music. She added the competition can be found on Instagram @socarumble246 and on Facebook @socarumble.

Starcom’s Advertising Manager Vilmore Johnson noted that the network’s stations were committed to promoting local talent. “When we were approached it was a no-brainer for us. As the number one urban station in Barbados, we wanted to make sure that we align ourselves with products that carry music. We are a catalyst for pushing music,” he said.

Johnson acknowledged that pulling off such a competition was not an easy task but he gave the assurance that Hott 95.3 will support Soca Rumble wherever possible.

Director of Operations at Bushy Park Kurt Seabra said that his organisation was also committed to the project.

“Bushy Park comes alive [with shows like these]. There is nothing like it. The shows that we put on here bring a vibe and we have a social responsibility for the community at large. This is what we are here to do,” he said.

Artistes are required to upload their songs in mp3 format to socarumble.live and can send information to socarumble@gmail.com.

Early Bird tickets are now available across the island at $60 for the show which starts at 7 p.m. (MR)