UPDATE: ‘I put my all into it’ – King Paido
King Paido, whose real name is Reynold A. Phillips, said the feeling after winning the title was excellent and noted that it comes on the 20th anniversary of his being a calypsonian. He took the crown from last year’s winner Mighty Ley Ley.
Sistah Joyce, VG Easter Fest Calypso Monarch in 2013, was second.
Hard work & dedication
“I couldn’t feel better. It was a lot of hard work and dedication but every year I try to step up one step ahead and I put my all into it and worked hard on it and eventually the victory did come,” he said when contacted by this new site.
He said that similar to other years, he felt the competition was strong, making his victory all the sweeter. “I thought that the competition was strong this year,” he said. “But I put my best foot forward and I have to agree with the judges,” he said.
King Paido said he has no reason to question the judges’ decision or recommend any change to the judging criteria. He said that he works with whatever criteria is given to him by the organisers.
King Paido also won the categories of best stage performance, best musical arrangement and best lyrics. He won the cash purse of $4,500 while Sistah Joyce won $3000 for securing first runner up and Mighty Ley Ley $2,000 for second runner up. Falco won a prize of $1,000 for third runner up.
In round one King Paido performed a song entitled Election Caution while in round two he performed one entitled Coming for Festival.
Sistah Joyce for the second year in a row won the category of best social commentary.
This year’s contest saw seven participants – King Paido, Sistah Joyce, Mighty Ley Ley, Rankin IJah, King Henry, the Mighty Macko and Falco – vying for the coveted title.
In his song Election Caution King Paido said to beware those persons coming “to trick we.” “They will do anything just to get your vote and they don’t care if the country sink or float,” he sang.
At the halfway point of the show following the conclusion of the first round, Shereen Flax who goes by the name Queen Shereen took to the stage to entertain the crowd with a medley which included They Too Damn Lie and another dedicated to Honourable Ralph T. O’Neal OBE (R9) who was the Honouree at this year’s Virgin Gorda Easter Festival.
Round One
In round one Falco performed Buy BVI where he spoke to the need to protect the VI economy by buying BVI. Mighty Ley Ley was next with Prayer for the Country then there was Rankin IJah who sang Give Jack he Jacket. The Mighty Macko was next with We are Africans followed by King Henry who sang a song called Positive.
Sistah Joyce sang a song called Victim in which she spoke about the issue of rape and child molestation in a thought provoking and moving performance.
Round Two
In round two, Falco performed one entitled Domestic Violence and, as was the case of many of the performers, he had props on stage helping to tell his song’s story.
Some of the sponsors of the competition were Trellis Bay Market, Bucks Food Market, Caribbean Insurance Ltd., Mahogany Rentals, Colonial Insurance BVI, Travel Wize, Big Bamboo among others.
The judging was done in the following order: Lyrics 40 points, Music 30 points, Performance 30 points.
See previous article published on April 6, 2015:
King Paido is 2015 VG Easter Fest Calypso Monarch
-snatches title from Mighty Ley Ley; Sistah Joyce places 2nd
VALLEY, Virgin Gorda, VI – King Paido won this year’s Virgin Gorda Easter Festival Calypso Competition early this morning April 6, 2015, taking the crown from last year’s winner Mighty Ley Ley with Sistah Joyce coming in second.
King Paido, whose name is Reynold A. Phillips, also won the categories of best stage performance, best musical arrangement and best lyrics.
In round one he performed a song entitled Election Caution while in round two he performed one entitled Coming for Festival.
Second runner up went to Mighty Ley Ley and third runner up went to Falco. Sistah Joyce, whose given name is Joycelyn M. Searles, won the category of best social commentary for the second year in a row.
The competition took place at the Hon Ralph T. O'Neal Festiville in Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda.
We will bring more details on the competition in a subsequent article.
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23 Responses to “UPDATE: ‘I put my all into it’ – King Paido”
What was even worse was the absence of Brass. Brass is a fundamental and basic ingredient for Calypso and I am not sure why Calypsonians would compromise the art form by performing without it. Brass Men who can read do not need more than 2-3 practices to get it right but the festival committee looks for the cheap way out or the way that can put more money in their you know here by hiring the least talented and least professional of the horn men. I hate to say it but just those seeking a quick buck for Festival.
Hopefully they get it right for Tortola and future calypso shows.
Is Mozart or Kitchener they practising? Lol. Allyuh cannot be serious. I listened to the show and nothing complicated about most of the songs. A matter of fact one particular calypsonian did not even have an intro or brass chorus to her song.
Calypsonians who are serious about their craft cannot be happy to have a brass-less Calypso show.
To solve the problem. Set a strict deadline for music to be submitted. Make sure that each Calypsonian is responsible for producing demo and sheet music by that time (NO EXCEPTIONS). Personally based on my experience the brass men still will not get it played properly but let us start from there. Let us put the onus on the band men to deliver. No excuses.
I find it ludicrous that we would have a Calypso show without a crucial element like Brass. Make it happen.
I guess you have never backed up a show or been resent at practice to see for yourself what takes place! You cannot have music coming in with no lyrics, no intro, hardly any arrangement and expect a miracle. Some of the calypsonians came with no music at all, no lyrics and did not even know their own song. The back up singers often have to look at the singers mouths and try to sing where possible. You are not even counting in the songs for the guest artists. With only 3 practices on such short notice, the band's performance was excellent; one of the keyboard men was playing the brass parts where he could.! People have their own lives and jobs, have planned vacations and the committee cannot expect to find brass men three weeks in advance; some were off island. You should be happy that there was a good show in lieu of the small budget.
Straight up...........when the organizers and calysonians could be a bit more professional with the musicians, the musician/ brass people etc can get the job done at a high level.
Ps
I am gettin tired of all these people talking about what musicians should be able to do considering the fact that many of the people talking know nothing about music. If you have gotten your hands dirty with music or really know how to navigate around a few bars of music.......I not talking to you)
I talking to the people who think playing the radio qualifies you to critically judge musician. Like I said....... Every one has a right to their opinion..... But you' re taking a dump all over my craft when you talk about the nuances of music that you really can't judge properly.
Also...... Being able to sing does not necessarily make you a musician either. Their are some singers that cannot play instruments but I consider them musicians because they have developed their craft to the point of really knowing what's going on. When we see them....we recognize them.......we could tell. On the other side we have calypsonians who sing well but really don't understand the music. ( but they think they do.)
So..... I've seen the musicians try to make sense of the music and educate the singer at the same time while the singer kicking up bout how the music is being played incorrectly.
Yuh know wa.........Doan com back in the band room callin yuh self a musician if this is how you gun act.
Dun