Stalin, Composer, Valentino spread
Kaiso fever in London

October 30, 2005, tntmirror.com

Calypsonians Brother VALENTINO, De ALBERTO, Information Attache ASHTON FORD, COMPOSER and CHALKDUST in London.

FIVE-TIME Calypso Monarch Black Stalin had Trinidad and Tobago nationals singing and dancing on the stroke of midnight last Saturday, to the tune of Black Man Come Out To Party at the Yaa Asantewaa Centre, West London.

It was the culmination of three nights of top class calypsoes that featured other singers from TnT, namely veterans Composer and Valentino.

The shows were staged in London to commemorate the annual Black History month, and 50 years of Calypso in honour of Ashton Moore - Mighty Tiger, who is also President of the Association of British Calypsonains (ABC).

Stalin closed the show on each of the three nights by singing four of his classics from his stack, which included Burn Dem, More Come and Nothing Easy For Black Man.

He brought down the curtain with his immortal party song, and without any prompting the lively audience sang the chorus, while in some cases there were patrons who knew all the lyrics of the song.

It was nostalgia for many nationals of TnT in the crowd, some of whom had not been to a Calypso tent back home for a long time, and others who knew Composer, Stalin and Valentino from the days back then.

Valentino was the first to take the stage in the second half of the show, and he delivered his three classics - History of Calypso followed by Stay Up Zimbabwe and his big hit, Life Is A Stage.

He was well-received by the audience, who also sang along with him during his last rendition of Life Is A Stage.

Composer took full command of the stage when his turn came, and he had the crowd rolling over with laughter with his ditty on True Or Lie.

The song was a question and answer session, where the crowd participated in answering the questions posed by the Calypsononian.

His other songs also captivated the audience, since they were well-known to the mature crowd.

He sang Black Fallacy, Police Service and his signature song, Child Behaviour.

The three singers were honoured by the ABC and the Trinidad and Tobago High Commission for their contribution to the artform, at home and internationally.

Special guest for the shows, Mighty Tiger, also performed along with other calysponian-based in London, who normally perform at the tent during the Carnival season leading up to the Notting Hill Carnival.

The London Calypso Monarch Helena B sang Soca Fever, the Calypso that brought her the title, which was a favourite with the crowd.

First runner up, Wen D, along with Lord Cloak and Talibah were among the British Calypsonians who performed at the three shows.

The current Calyspo Monarch of TnT, Chalkdust, was introduced to the audience.

He was in London as guest of the Arts Council, London, to attend a three-day seminar on Carnival.

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