St. Lucia Piton Soca Starz Finalists Announced

Ten persons have been selected to compete in the first ever Piton Soca Starz competition final. The final will take place on Friday June 25 from 6 PM during the popular Piton Party in the Yard at the CSA grounds, Sans Souci.

Piton Soca Starz is a brand new initiative of Windward and Leeward Brewery through its local brand Piton, as the brand continues to foster stronger links with the islands grandest cultural showcase, Carnival. In the past, Piton has been one of the main sponsors of carnival and some of the major related events. With Piton Soca Starz, the brand is giving aspiring Soca artiste a chance at becoming an integral part of the event, by not only showcasing their talent, but having opportunities to perform at other events during carnival sponsored by Piton. The winner of Piton Soca Starz will walk away with EC$3,000 cash, other prizes from Piton and a recording contract.

For this years inaugural Piton Soca Starz, nine rounds of competition was followed by two semi final rounds where the finalists were chosen by a panel of three judges. Round one of the semi-finals was held at Prio’s in Castries on Wednesday June 9 and round two at the Phoenix in Vieux Fort. In the end, the panel of three judges- Music Publisher and Artist consultant Ian Sanchez, producer Courtney Louis and journalist and entertainment consultant Toni Nicholas sifted through the performances to come up with the finalists. This announcement was officially made before all participants on Tuesday June 15 at the WLBL offices in Castries.

The ten who will move on to the finals are Mongstar, Ambi, Mubarak, Divabbi, Soca Princess and Shawna who competed at the first semis. Those qualifying from round two are Lady K, Soca bandit, Tisha and Desma. This composition features performers from Soufriere, Piaye, Bexon, Dennery, Forestierre, Castries and Gros Islet.

For the finals on Friday June 25 at Piton Party in the Yard, each competitor is expected to sing a song of their choice (original or cover) and their second song will be performed with an established Saint Lucian Soca artiste.

Germaine Serieux Piton Brand manager says that the first ever Piton Soca Starz has been quite an eye opener and that he was very pleased with the level of support both in terms of supporters and the participants. “I am definitely looking forward to a great final next week and I want to thank all those who took part in Piton Soca Starz and to congratulate all of the finalists,” Serieux says.

Piton will be hosting the finalists at a Piton road show this Friday night June 18, during the Friday Night Gros Islet Street Party. There the public will get a taste of the offering of the ten finalists as well as some of the islands leading Soca artistes including Ricky T, Superman, Q-Pid and others.