Junior Calypso Monarch honours Rock Gutter accident victims
An emotional, yet powerful tribute to the victims of the Rock Gutter tragedy earned a student of the North Union Secondary School the title of Junior Calypso Monarch on Tuesday.
Not only was Ishanna âQueen Shannaâ Phillips able to secure the title for her school, making this their second consecutive win, but the {{more}}performance of her song, âRock Gutterâ was so powerful that she moved some patrons to tears.
âItâs about the persons who died and the persons who survived. Some of the persons who died were in my class, like Chanstacia and Jamali. Those were the only ones in my class, so people are forgetting about that tragedy, so we decided to make a song about it,â she told reporters, following her crowning.
The 14-year-old highlighted that when the tragedy took place, it was extremely hard for her and her classmates because losing their classmates was like losing two of their family members.
While Phillips stated that it was not difficult to perform her song, tears were evident at some points of her performance.
âI cried a little. I donât even know. God helped me,â she said, explaining how she was able to perform smoothly at Tuesdayâs competition in Victoria Park.
Phillips took the opportunity to thank her music teacher Hank Williams, who wrote the song; her principal, who supported her in her difficult time and her mother, who she said is her source of encouragement.
Second place was awarded to junior calypso veteran, Kristiana âSinging Kristyâ Christopher of the Thomas Saunders Secondary School. Her song was entitled âTime longer than Twine.â
Meanwhile, first time competitor Kelisa âSinging Kellyâ Barker of the North Union Secondary School placed third with her calypso, âHave Some Faith.â
Other competitors in the Junior Calypso secondary school competition included Brandon âC4â Frederick of the St Vincent Grammar School with âDomestic Violenceâ, Larissa âUnpredictable Lalaâ of the Buccament Bay Secondary School with âListenâ and Brianca âPrincess Bâ Matthias of the Girlsâ High School with âSelfie.â
Bevorne âChrystal Bâ Baptiste and Trevicia âQueen KKâ Lavia of the Sandy Bay Secondary School also competed in this yearâs competition with their songs, âWho to Blameâ and âAim Highâ respectively, as well as Giovanni âSuper Dâ Collins of the St Josephâs Convent Marriaqua, whose song was entitled âTeach me Teacher.â
The Rock Gutter tragedy took place in January this year, when a bus carrying 21 passengers overturned and plunged over a cliff at Rock Gutter, Fancy. This accident claimed the lives of seven students.(BK)