By Carlena Knight
Sixteen-year-old Ge’Eve Phillip has told Observer she was overwhelmed when she received the news that she had made it to the finals in both the ‘jumpy’ and ‘groovy’ segments of this year’s Party Monarch competition.
The finals will take place on July 30 at the Antigua Recreation Ground (ARG).
Phillip, who recently graduated from the Antigua Girls’ High School, is one of the youngest ever soca artistes to make it to the finals of the major competition.
“Let me first start by saying that as a graduate from the juniors, fresh graduate in fact, I am really proud to see how far and how much I have elevated and the impact that I have created throughout the arena, especially having been one of the youngest competitors at only 16 years old,” she said.
“If I should actually be factual, it can actually be said that this is history and I am really proud of myself.”
She will compete against Naycha Kid, Island Prince, Claudette ‘CP’ Peters, Tian Winter, Blade, Drastic and Royalty in the groovy segment, while in the jumpy category she will battle against Island Prince, Zamoni, Romel, Menace XL, King Vicious, LyricksMan and Tian Winter.
This is not new territory for the singer, formerly known as Baby Eve, as at the tender age of six she made her debut in the Junior Calypso and Junior Soca Monarch competitions.
She has won over five crowns in the junior calypso arena.
Phillip did, however, speak to how it felt performing in her first senior soca semi-finals.
“I was really impressed by myself. The motive was to go out and really show these guys that, hey Ge’Eve might be small but she really tallawah, and that’s exactly what I showed them last night.
“I went out, I was fearless and, you know, I am really proud of myself,” she added.
Looking ahead to the finals, the bubbly outspoken teenager mentioned that fans can expect “nothing but the best for the finals”.
Even while celebrating Tuesday’s success, the seasoned entertainer was setting her sights on advancing in the Calypso Monarch arena as well, as she prepared to compete in last night’s social commentary segment.
Nine artistes were due to be selected to compete in the commentary segment of the competition while 10 will advance to the bacchanal round.
The semi-finals took place at the UWI Open Campus while the finals will take place on July 29 at the ARG.