While Shelly G’s no show to defend her title proved a disappointment to some none can complain about the 2010 choice for Soca monarch. Before a celebratory crowd Orlando ‘Bones man’ Johashen age 24 a Berbician of Tempe Village and a worker at Forestry was adjudged the 2010 soca monarch.

The artistes who copped the crown from a line up nine was true to his Guyanese roots and proudly sang with support from eth crowd “ I don't care what no body say Mashramani time is we own... woi see we jumping...” From the time he began his performance to his conclusion the crowd was on fire for him and he did not disappoint with lyrical delivery like that of Trinidad soca sensation Bunji Garlin, the father of one was a burst of energy an hype that left the crowd shouting Bones man...we want bones man long after he exited the stage.

One woman who is an obvious soca crazy fan at the show’s end was heard telling other “I’m disappointed that Shelly G did not show up but Bones Man deserved it.”

Appearing as the penultimate artiste the artiste who won the best new comer prize three years ago on Saturday night offered a performance that included fireworks and the crowd is with him. The crowd liked him and his energy was great. Unique in his delivery he wore a straw skirt instead of pants under a large white coat. Amidst performing he shouted “ya’ll want to see the real bones man’. As the crowd shouted in the positive he stripped himself of the coat the crowd s went into a frenzy declaring him the clear winner. He used the X-factor dancers who added to his energy and they were supported off stage by several mocha jumbies (stilts walkers).

Tomeka Thomas the pregnant lady was first up singing about her balloon. She appeared as a queen and her backup dancers were a bunch of fully pregnant (imitations) women dressed in leotards prancing around the stage showcasing their balloons proudly. It was her second shot at the crown and this year she was inspired by last year’s Trinidad soca monarch Fay-Ann Lyons. Though being eight months pregnant she took some serious risks to prove that she was fit. However it must have been an error on the part of the emcee to have not announced that she once resided in the islands and this possibly worked against her as her accent was obviously not Guyanese. But both her and her baby proved entertaining as she imitated her soca inspiration in attitude and singing.teh crowd was moved to laughter as she announced that comedian chow pow was her baby father. The audience was unsure of how to react when she executed a split to conclude her presentation.

B52 the fire man was up next with ‘wecarrying on’ and his was a performance that featured fire works flying and the flames throwers on and off stage as well as on the stage roof. He donned a white suit lined with trimmings of the flag and was backed by dancers dressed in red and yellow outfits. Something about the microphone sound was not as clear and caused him to literally strain his vocals in delivery. Hs like at least three others including the winner included the predictable s ‘somebody missing’ chant but the crowd did show him some love. His presentation included the crowd chanting carry back the people thing.

Lady B’ (Barbra) was introduced next and she appeared wearing a Guyana flag mo hawk. Her’s was delivery that stated that she ‘want a man who could lift me up’. That song sounded very familiar. Her backups included dancers who were good but they needed better costumes. Some dubbed her a good filler but were saying when she exited eth stage that “she should go home now”.

Back wine time was probably the energy saver to the first half of the competitors as Beverly using dance fanatics for back up delivered a scorching performance that proved that age ain’t anything but a number. She sounded really nice and professionally so too while using the stage well. The crowd certainly enjoyed her serving of back wine time that made many exclaim that “granny could entertain and wine.” That was the performance to beat in the first half of the show.

Guyana born Jamaica based artistes Piere Da Silva was next up and he came with much energy for his ‘mad, mad, mad’ song. With sponsorship from Bill express he and his dancers’ donned doctors’ jackets and were full of energy but he somehow did not connect with the audience as he could have. It was obvious that the crowd couldn’t decide if they should support him or not as for the most part his delivery was so full of words that it was hard to understand what he was singing but the musical accompaniment was high energy. His locks were full of sparkles and he too delivered the over played somebody missing chant which evoked the usual crowd response as he paraded all over the stage.

Material things done by De cruz who resides in Trinidad was a fairly delivered groovy soca with dancers who appeared on a mini SUV imitating lady Gaga. But the song also bordered on dance hall. Then a Brazilian lady whom he described as European came and offered some supposed exotic dancing before he ordered her off the stage because she offered him a large chain. Then came is dispersal of monopoly money in crowd followed by him relieving himself of his shirt to reveal a Guyana flag on a some what chiseled body and while some enjoyed his delivery many did not find him impressive enough. However he got the judges’ nod for the best new comer prize. His performance included a local stele pan player being invited to eth stage to play parts of his song before he got back into the singing grove.

Former reporter turn singer Jackie Handover was a great act that presented “festival time” with a good voice while some said they saw a whole lot of Charmaine Blackman in her delivery. She's wore a two piece red short pants suit. But while she was energetic she failed when she tried to interact with the audience by stating that Trinidad has crop over and Barbados has Carnival. She has a few jitters and sounds like charmaine Blackman. With work some believe that she will be a force to be reckoned with in future competitions.

Vanilla offered an electric performance that encouraged patrons to get ‘High’. Her presentation included mocha jumbies and dancers as well as body builders. She's was dressed in a red jacket and a gold short pants. She was backed by dancers from the national dance school sporting colours of the flag. Amidst her performance there were several explosions of confetti and fire works and she tore off her jacket to reveal a body hugging black and gold body suit. And eth fire works exploded even more as dancers dressed in carnival costumes arrived off stage on forklifts. And before long she too was on a fork lift with support from a gyrating body builder. But try as she did she was again relegated to the second spot in the competition.

Some were loud in praises saying “big-up Bones Man, he work hard for it for real, now he just got to keep up the hype and energy that he got and big things could happen for he. But Vanilla was not my pick for second. I think that B52 had a far better song than hers, even Beverly and plenty other people including the groovy soca song Material Things. But the judges’ decision is final. "

Story by: (By Mondale Smith and Gary Eleazer)

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