I have my radio turned on and I listen faithfully to the offerings of the various tents and artistes for the Carnival season.  This year has been somewhat surreal to me because I have been so caught up in other pursuits that there has been some serious lapses in my attention to all things calypso and carnival.  I do know however that there are not fifteen songs worthy of being a part of the Groovy Monarch Finals.  

Once the list came out of the fourteen finalists to share the spotlight with reigning King Alpha, I made a personal commitment to listen to all the submissions and rate them using my own criteria.  Nothing fancy.  Each song was rated according to five criteria.  

• Is the melody catchy?
• Are the lyrics entertaining/ enjoyable?
• Can the person sing?
• Can the singer perform?
• Is it a song I want to listen to over and over again?

Songs that met three out of five set criteria would make it to my finals.  The others didn't.  Using my criteria, I could only come up with eight finalists including Alpha.   That was when I was being generous.  If I was strict and did not compensate for those people I felt bad for, then the true number of finalists would be five.  So there is a problem.  Either my criteria is much too simple or the CDF is just putting in some songs to make up the numbers for the Groovy Soca Finals.  Fifteen songs will be competing for the grand prize on July 10th.  I will be listening to five of them, one of which I am sure will be the winner.  You too can pick your own favorite from the list below.