Pic-O-De-Crop finals returns to free-to-air TV

ext week’s Courtesy Garage Pic-O-De-Crop finals will be broadcast on free-to-air television to “all Barbadians and all of the world to see”, the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) has announced.

“With the support of the minister, the ministry, and the Prime Minister’s Office and the board of the NCF, I am very pleased to announce that this year the finals will be broadcast live and free of cost,” NCF chief executive Carol Roberts announced at the Wildey showroom of marquee sponsor Courtesy Garage during the show’s media launch and draw for the finalists’ order of performance.

The calypso competition, which traditionally has been broadcast by the country’s two main radio networks, has been kept off free-to-air television screens for decades in a bid to protect box office sales for the contest. In the mid-1990s, the final began to air on pay-per-view on the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation’s Multichoice TV service, beginning a watch party alternative tradition for many.

The decision came after extensive discussions among government and NCF officials, recognising the event’s cultural significance, Roberts declared.

She said: “This Pic-O-De-Crop competition is extremely important to the presentation of those intangible cultural aspects of our Crop Over festival, but it’s also important because, like no other competition or event, it gives us a capsule of the issues of the day creatively expressed by our calypsonians.”

The NCF chief also highlighted the strong presence of young talent in this year’s finals, noting the success of former Junior Monarch participants at the senior level.

“It is worthy to note that once again former and current Junior Monarch winners and participants have excelled at the senior level,” Roberts said. She specifically mentioned examples of successful transitions from junior to senior competitions.

She said: “You can not ignore the fact that Sammy G, Tae, a three-time winner at the junior level; Trinity who is not only participating tomorrow night in the Junior Monarch finals, but she is also a Pic-O-De-Crop finalist; Grateful Co that we know fondly as Coco, a double Junior Monarch winner; and Quon who has won Junior Monarch twice and Pic-O-De-Crop once, is this year’s reserve.

“Again, it shows that intangible connection between the two competitions.”

Eleanor Rice, tent manager of All Stars tent, expressed her excitement at having an unprecedented nine members from her tent in the finals.

“It feels really good,” Rice told reporters. “I am excited, I cannot wait until next week Friday to see what is going to happen at the finals, and I know [the finalists] have to be excited as well. This is the first time in Barbados that we’ve had nine persons out of one calypso tent.”

Shontae Tae Alleyne-Clarke, who recently made history by winning her third consecutive title at the 2023 Scotiabank Junior Monarch finals, shared her enthusiasm about making it to the senior finals on her first attempt.

“I am very happy about the position that I will be appearing in, I’m not nervous or anything because it’s a competition at the end of the day whether you compete against the big ones or the small ones,” Alleyne-Clarke said. “It’s a real good opportunity to be here, I am happy that I made the finals on my first try, and I am going to come as hard as I can.”

The finals, scheduled for Friday,  August 2, will feature 18 calypsonians performing in the following order: Mr Deejay, Kid Site, Sammy G, Chrystal, Colin Spencer, Sir Ruel, Darin Holder, Eric Lewis, Sammy Dello, Grateful Co, John Yarde, Billboard, Trinity, Tae, iWeb, AC, Imara, Biggie Irie, with Quon as the reserve.