Festivals Commission release adjusted criteria for Carnival Competitions

By Staff

Several changes have been announced for Antigua’s Carnival 2024 following consultations with calypsonians, soca artistes, mas players and the Steelpan Association.

Director of Culture Khan Cordice outlined minor changes to the judging criteria for the Calypso and Soca competitions. He assured all that this year’s criteria is not very different from previous years but was adjusted for groove given that Party Monarch will now take a one song competition format.

Under ‘Lyrics’ which has a total of 15 points – Originality (5 points), Creativity (10 points). Under ‘Music’ which has a total of 40 points – Melody (20 points), Arrangement (20 points). Under ‘Performance and Presentation’ which has a total of 45 points – Rendition (15 points), Stage Performance (15 points) and Crowd Interaction (15 points). These total a score of 100 points.

“Those of you who are familiar with the Party Monarch criteria, you would notice that it looks very familiar. We did not change much because we don’t want you to feel like it is a totally different competition. The only difference is the removal of groove which was situated under the Groovy aspect of the competition and the weighting of the points would have been adjusted,” according to Cordice.

He also said that artistes may enter a Groovy song (under 139 beats per minute) or a Jumpy song (over 139 beats per minute).

Judges for the Calypso Monarch competition will revert to using the original criteria which was used years ago.

Under ‘Lyrics’ which has a total of 30 points – Originality (10 points), Interpretation and Development (10 points), Language (10 points), Creativity (10 points). Under ‘Music’ which has a total of 35 points – Originality (10 points), Melody (15 points), Arrangement (5 points) and Compatibility (5 points). Under ‘Performance and Presentation’ which has a total of 25 points – Rendition (10 points), Diction and Clarity (10 points) and Delivery and Presentation (5 points).

Director of Culture, Khan Cordice. (Photo by Makeida Antonio)

“This is in an effort to streamline our road show and can be accessed here at the

Artisan bands are required to submit the name of their song or songs and complete the registration to be judged for the Patrick A. Michael Memorial Trophy no later than July 25th. Completed applications must be tendered at the Ministry of Creative Industries and Innovation Head Office on Old Parham Road on the second floor of the KFC Building. Applicants must be a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda and documents must be submitted to show proof of citizenship for the Road March competition.

Judging of up to 5 local  songs released between August 8 2023 (after last Carnival) to July 25 2024 per artistes will be eligible on the following days – T-shirt Mas, J’ouvert and Parade of the Bands with only the first song played at the judging spot to be considered.

These changes are a “reset moment” to increase competitiveness among artistes and it was highlighted that sums of prize monies remain the same this year.

J’ouvert Band of The Year has also been added on the recommendation of mas players in Antigua.