Barbados Association of Creatives and Artistes (BACA) Calls for Regional Judges in 2025 Pic O De Crop Competition

Some members of the Barbados Association of Creatives and Artistes (BACA) would like to have a 2025

Pic O De Crop competition panel.

Speaking about this year’s Crop Over Festival and the competition, president Sean Carter said in an interview that some of their members were concerned about the results after the six tents were judged and 17 contenders were selected to meet last year’s monarch Ian iWeb Webster.

Veteran calypsonian Adrian AC Clarke won the August 2 competition which took place at the National Botanical Gardens, Waterford, St Michael while Chad Sir Ruel Bowen was second and Chrystal Cummins-Beckles was third.

“Some members of BACA and other artistes that I have spoken to are requesting an addition of regional judges to be on the panel for each stage of the Pic O De Crop competition next year. This request, which BACA would make formally to the NCF (National Cultural Foundation), comes because members are questioning the judging and the results of the judging that was done. However you look at it, there were notable exclusions from the finals

this year.

“I’ve already stated on record that I don’t agree with every decision that the judges make but overall, I think we had a good panel of judges. I thought they were credible and I think generally they did a good job in carrying out their duties in the preliminaries and the finals,” Carter said.

Sharing his views on the competition, the finals and the venue, the president said although there was some improvement compared to last year, more could be done if the same location is to be used in the future.

“The finals, which started late, were a little disappointing. After the conditions that were experienced in the amphitheatre at the National Botanical Gardens last year, the backstage conditions for the artistes this year were an improvement, but they were still not good enough and I think that’s an area that the NCF needs to improve on.

“I believe the delayed start also had a significant impact on Mr Deejay’s performance. He would have been dressed and in position in the waiting tent for at least an hour and a half, which was a ridiculously long time. After you as an artiste would have been prepared mentally and be psyched up and ready to go on stage, waiting for so long before the show starts impacts your performance and I believe that contributed to him not performing at his best on the night.

“I thought the competition overall was good. I think there would always be some persons who would be out of their league from the tent straight to the finals and therefore I, and other calypsonians, are calling for a Pic O De Crop semi-final because we think the quality of the finals will improve. We see the usefulness of a semi-final,” he said.

Carter noted that tents using the Wildey Gymnasium and the Daphne Joseph Hackett Theatre for their judging nights was “a welcome move for the calypsonians because there were issues in the past, where on judging night because different venues and different sound systems were used, calypsonians didn’t believe the judges were hearing them properly”. The two venues provided a level playing field, he said.

Additionally, the BACA president encouraged calypsonians to participate in song-writing workshops.

“Overall, what I would like to see straight across the board is artistes, including those who don’t write for themselves, attending the song-writing workshops that are held throughout the year. I think it would help to improve the writing and if the writing improves, it would help improve the festival,” he stated.

Carter reissued his call for the return of the Soca Monarch competition which he said was more than a contest or a show and was “developmental which history and time has shown”. (GBM)