Soca surprises came from the Caribbean Prestige Foundation (CPF) yesterday as veteran soca artiste Ken Marlon Charles (KMC) made a return to the soca monarch competition, competing against 45 others in the Groovy category.
The Digicel International Groovy Monarch title is being defended by soca artiste and song writer Kerwin Dubois, who won the competition, dethroning soca superstar Machel Montano with a high energy performance of his song Too Real.
Montano resigned from the competition last year after coming second to Dubois.
Charles, a former road march winner, had disappeared from the soca scene while on tour in Europe over the past few years. In 2011, he told a news reporter that he would not be taking part in Carnival in the future.
“I am doing this for me, and my music. I ask God to take me out of that Carnival thing when I realise is so much ah fight down. I realise that Carnival thing is like a war zone, so I ask God for that and I give him all the glory cause I never expect anything like this to happen, and right now my business fix,” Charles said in the 2011 interview.
Charles is not the only soca artiste making a return to the competition.
Iwer George, who said he was retiring from the competition less than a year ago, has been named a semifinalist in both categories.
Charles is actually one of the few veteran soca artistes in the competition, with fellow superstars Destra Garcia, Denise Belfon, Iwer George, Oscar B, Nadia Batson, Benjai, Crazy and Shurwayne Winchester being the most familiar names in the semifinals.
The group of 45 Groovy competitors includes several young artistes such as singer and songwriter Erphaan Alves, Sekon Sta, J Angel and Lyrikal.
In the Lotto Plus International Power Soca category, Montano will defend his title on Fantastic Friday, while 35 others challenge each other to make it to the finals.
The semifinals will be held this year at the Queen’s Park Savannah, in a cooler edition on January 25.
In previous years, it was held at the Arima Velodrome. The semifinalists were chosen from more than 350 preliminary competitors.
