FIVE out of twelve is not a passing grade. That was the number of calypso shows that we got from what was planned for the season. And before anyone accuses me of singing from the wrong song sheet, we will add the Wednesday soca show to give START a passing grade; six out of twelve.
Five out of twelve is probably a good fraction to represent the crowd turnout at the last tent. For good measure maybe we can make it fifty percent.
Definitely there is room for much improvement. The evidence shows than something has gone wrong. The crowd support has dwindled from show to show and one can only pray that the quarter finals will draw a more encouraging crowd.
The season needed to be saved, so there will be no semi-finals. A fatal victory? Time will tell. Meanwhile there is a lot of discontentment amount calypsonians. Certainly some people feel maligned; those who feel that what is being branded as a unanimous decision to scrap the semi-finals, is a misrepresentation since calypsonians were not consulted; those who assure that they were ready for the season but were not called on to perform, those who are still querying payment from last year, those who have signalled resignation from the art form; those who think that there is a conflict of interest with the head of START administrating and competing, those who feel that the fact that there is no semis will hurt their bottom line; those who feel that they should be given the nod into the finals, over those who did not meet the three shows requirement as stipulated in the contract. And the list goes. Did I say there is a lot of discontentment among calypsonians? One must now question the effectiveness of ART; the lion sleeps.
When over 100 calypsonians intended to participate this season and only 22 showed their faces, (and that is less than five out of twelve) we cannot deny that calypso is dying. Calypso is an art form that needs saving and its loss is a Lucian society without a pulse. Soukou!