Eastern Caribbean to represent at T&T's Soca Monarch 2009

The Caribbean will be well represented on Friday February 20 for the finals of the International Power Soca Monarch and Groovy Monarch competitions.

About eight singers from islands such as St Lucia, Barbados, Grenada, Antigua and St Vincent have made it to the finals carded to take place on Fantastic Friday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.

Many of them are titleholders in their native islands which gained them automatic entry into the finals. Claudette "CP" Peters has been Antigua's Party Monarch for the last four years; Luni Spark and Electrify became the first duo to win Grenada's Soca Monarch competition in 2007 and repeated that feat in 2008; Ricky T has won St Lucia's Road March title for the past three years; Skinny Fabulous, whose song Head Bad has been mashing up T&T airwaves, is St Vincent's 2008 Soca Monarch; while Khiomal is a former Calypso and Tune of the Crop winner in Barbados.

Also in the lineup is Tizzy from Antigua and Zoelah from St Vincent.

The Caribbean crew will be up against soca heavyweights such as Faye-An Lyons, who is widely favoured to win both the Power Soca Monarch and Groovy Soca Monarch titles, her husband Bunji Garlin, the reigning soca monarch, former Groovy and Power Soca Monarch Shurwayne Winchester and former winner Iwer George.

Below is the full list of competitors who will be vying for the TT$1m first prize.

Soca Monarch

• Defending champion Bunji Garlin
• Iwer George
• Faye Ann Lyons Alvarez
• Blaxxx
• Berbis
• Patrice Roberts
• Shurwayne Winchester
• Claudette Peters
• Skinny Fabulous
• Ricky P
• Khiomal
• Luni Spark and Electrify

Groovy category

• Defending champion Shurwayne Winchester
• Faye Ann Lyons
• Biggie Irie
• Nadia Batson
• Hunter
• Patch and Mastermind
• Zoelah
• Tizzy and Richard Trumpet
• Kerwin Dubois
• Benjai
• Zan