By Latrishka Thomas
First time competitor Dalik “Island Prince” Dyer and Noah “De African Prince” Yeiboah are the new champions of the ECAB Junior Party Monarch competition which was staged in Carnival City on Thursday night.
At the first competition in the official lineup for Carnival 2019, the young soca artistes pulled out all their tricks during an intense battle for the junior soca crown.
In the end, Island Prince and De African Prince out-performed the eight other competitors in the Groovy and Jumpy categories, respectively.
Island Prince’s rendition of ‘I Don’t Need’ edged out veteran junior artiste Tyreke “King Vicious” Lewis who was adjudged first runner-up with his song “She So Petty”, while Hope “Empress” Serrant’s rendition of “No Permission” landed her the second runner-up position.
The 2019 Groovy monarch told OBSERVER media that he was surprised when his name was announced.
“It is a very great accomplishment, you know. I was a very shy individual and I basically overcame my fear. Honestly, I am really surprised you know; it’s overwhelming,” Island Prince said.
He added that he would encourage other young artistes to “never give up on [their] dreams”.
“It’s hard, but if you have a love for something, try your best to go out and execute,” he advised.
Meanwhile, in the Junior Jumpy Monarch category, De African Prince edged out last year’s champion, Empress, who managed to cop the second place trophy with her rendition of “Charge-Ah”.
De African Prince, a third time participant in the competition, had some difficulty controlling his emotions after he was crowned.
He said he had not anticipated making it this far, but promised to be back next year and reclaim the crown.
Shemoy “Daddy Fergus” Cornelius, who appeared to be the crowd favourite, placed third with his song, “Fergie”.