International Soca Monarch, tonight at 9!

Her tummy's definitely not so flat these days, but Faye Ann Lyons is still tapped to be the hot lady of the night at the International Soca Monarch competition, in Trinidad & Tobago. And hubby/reigning champ Bungi Garlin is her date for the evening, of course...

The pair is all set shake down Port of Spain with their Soca music cohorts, during the phenomenal Carnival Friday night competition. Quick F.Y.I.: Soca is the love-child of Calypso music, and the Soca Monarch comp. is one of the arenas where the best of the best in the genre duke it out annually.

Me, I like to wait till the 2nd half of the show to get into the hyped-up 'road music' part of the competition. Check it live at CNC3, or CTV. And don't forget, 9pm Trini time is 8pm in the U.S.!

L.M.N. Harris.

N.B. Image courtesy Torontolime.com

Miss TnT 2008 Winners are in!

So the new pageant representatives were chosen by the judges tonight, with Gabrielle Walcott & Anya Ayong Chee emerging as Miss T&T/World and Miss T&T Universe respectively. Unfortunately, I can't say much about the actual pagent or the winners, because PC troubles kept me off the weblink till the point when the last contestant was doing a clumsy job of answering the final question. Anya was my pick from the start - the start for me being a few days ago, when I happened upon http://www.ctntworld.com/ and saw the delegates for this year's competition - and only because I found it quaint that she was a bit Asian. Gabrielle, who's also the winner of the People's Choice Award, was clearly the crowd favourite and did look quite good. The only thing that managed to annoy me in the few minutes I watched the stream, was the host and pageant company (Peter Elias and Company) rep Adrian Raymond, waxing warm about all sorts of behind-the-scenes memories and moments involving the girls. One or two comments for flavour is always welcomed, but too much is too much, right? All in all, the inclusion of CNMG into the pageant equation has seemed to work out for Elias & co., and the standard of the show did appear to be much higher this year, albeit very intimate and pared down. I wish Gabrielle and Anyna all the best with their respective competitions, and I'm looking forward to what's next for the girls as they go on to represent Trinidad & Tobago internationally...

L.M.N. Harris

Miss T&T 2008 LIVE on www.CTnTworld.com.

According to www.CTnTWorld.com, the online television portal of the Caribbean New Media Group/CNMG, the finals for the Miss T&T competition 2008 will be held this Sunday at 6pm at the Zen Nightclub. Once again, CNMG has been kind enough to remember us - the foreign folks who love to keep abreast of what's happening back home - and from 7:30pm TT time, they will be broadcasting the program live on their website. The 08 delegates - Anya, Gabrielle, June, Kerry, Makeda, Priya, and Sasiya have been giving video diaries on Facebook and interacting with the public via these new mediums that signals a markedly younger marketing approach for the pageant. I can guarantee you that the current 'reality' style of the Miss T&T competition makes for interesting TV, but it does leave me wanting so much more. I still remember the buildup for the old competitions; those shows used to take FOREVER on TTT ch. 2 & 13, but I loved it!

The original lengthy televised program format was scrapped in favour of this new, and according to Peter Elias & Associates, cheaper one. In 2006, the first time the current franchise holders held the competition in its new format, some Trini Media folks said that it seemed like the organizers were rushing to crown one of their 'own girls.' The selection of a delegate was a rather low key and almost secretive one, where Keneisha Thom was eventually selected as Miss TnT 06 in front of a private audience, even though she had already been given at least 2 chances to represent the country. From the seven delegates that are up this year, I believe there is at least one who may have tried before and is returning to the competition.

This is another Peter Elias & Associates trend - bringing back girls who may have tried for the selection, but were deemed 'not ready' at their initial tryouts. I guess in that way, the pageant company gets to ensure that their girls are indeed ready for the local and international stage, but what about the hundreds, if not thousands of local and foreign Trinbago young women who are more than capable of successfully representing the country at Miss Universe/Miss World? How would they have a chance to win if girls are being re-elected in the competition? On the other hand, I know that Elias & co. is definitely not looking for a repeat of the 05 Cheryl Ankrah disaster and as such, they probably wouldn't mind bringing back the girls they believe in, and have nurtured; Ankrah apparently failed to live up to the expectations of the company, and instead gave them a hop, skip and a run for their money in the courts.

Anyways, check out the girls on www.CTnTWorld.com, to get a little backgrounder on each contestant. You can also vote for your favorite by simply texting VOTE to 78247, leaving a space, then including your choice, e.g. VOTE SASIYA or VOTE KERRY. My US and Canada residents, you can also participate in this poll as well.

So check out the pageant, and tell me what you think. I hope your girl wins!

L.M.N. Harris.