By Carlena Knight
‘Soca Diva’ Claudette ‘CP’ Peters will be making her return to the Party Monarch competition during this year’s Carnival festivities.
She confirmed the news while speaking on the Observer AM show on Friday.
“I decided last minute. I’m like, you know what, why not? A lot of times I’d say no because it gets tiring at times. You put out more than you get in, and we would say as artistes it’s because of our fans that we do this. Most of the times it’s true, but I am entering because it’s been a long time and I really want to,” Peters said.
This is welcomed news for all her fans as the veteran singer did not compete in the 2019 edition of the competition.
Her confirmation follows announcements from Tian Winter, Dennis ‘Menace XL’ Roberts, Drastic and Hard Knaxx who will also be competing in the eagerly anticipated event.
Like other artistes and residents alike, the Covid-19 pandemic dealt a “hard blow” to Peters.
“I had just built my home. I moved in the October and by March, bam. I was already preparing for Carnival, and I was like, this is going to go away in a couple of weeks because that’s basically how these things are, and we had no idea as to what Covid was, but it was not two weeks and so, I had to try and find ways to entertain the public and myself,” she explained.
Nevertheless, she said she tried to make the best of it and find different ways to entertain persons through her ‘Hungry Belly’ videos and impromptu on-the-step music performances.
“I realised the impact that the Covid situation had; it must have caused a mental breakdown on everybody, and so I felt like I was given a gift, a gift to heal, and music has a special healing so I felt that I had to play a very important part in helping to heal the pains that people were going through. Forgetting myself, but it made me feel good too. I had to come up with myself to keep myself going,” she added.
Already, CP has released songs including ‘Need It’ and ‘Stressless’ for the festive season.
Party Monarch will be held on July 31 at Carnival City aka the Antigua Recreation Grounds (ARG).