New calypso king a popular choice

He has now etched his name amongst this country’s elite in the Calypso business.{{more}}

Maxwell ‘Tajoe’ Francis, with an astounding performance at last Sunday night’s Dimanche Gras, delivered what many fans would say was the performance of his life.

For many, it was Francis’ performance in the second round with the song ‘Tell me if am wrong’ that sealed the win for the school teacher from Fancy, who would go on to dethrone defending monarch Bridget ‘Joy C’ Creese.

Creese had to settle for the third spot.

Performing the hit ‘Memoirs of an Addict’, Francis fought up some heavy competition in the first round coming up against former monarchs Elvis ‘Abijah’ Abbey with his song ‘In this round’ and Michael ‘Lord Have Mercy’ Ollivierre’s ‘What we gonna do’.

Aurella ‘Queen B’ Beache’s ‘Protest fuh dat’ (4th) and Glenroy ‘Sulle’ Caesar and Shernell ‘Skarpyon’ Williams in his second appearance in the finals, all performed commendably in the first round with Williams taking the second spot.

First timer Javelle ‘Lady Diamond’ Frank in her first outing to the finals gave a good showing, however Elliot ‘Mystery’ Shallow, in his first outing after a few years, may have disappointed fans.

But Francis in only his second outing in the big yard and seven years of active Calypso monarch participation, he said that he is in taking his victory in stride.

After all, he is no stranger to winners’ row having penned the winning song in seven junior competitions.

Coming in at position eleven, Francis told SEARCHLIGHT that he felt confident after his first round performance, adding that he would have capitalized on the performances of the previous Calypsonians to grace the stage.

Writing a good song is not easy he explained.

“What goes into writing a winning Calypso is that you have to have an idea of what you want to write about,” he further explained.

His passion for reading puts him at an advantage he contended, but once he gets a good concept, it takes about 15 minutes to pen an entire song.

As for the future, Francis said that he plans to maintain a high standard and stick with the social issues.

“I will leave the politics to the politicians,” he said, adding that he believes that the duty of our calypsonians is to bring the social ills of the country to the fore.

“My duty as a teacher and my community and country is to be patriotic,” Francis contended. (DD)