By Ricky Jordan in Bridgetown

 

With nine national calypso finalists selected over last weekend to meet reigning monarch Popsicle, Crop Over 2012 is shaping up for a series of climactic events over the next two weeks before ending with the massive masquerade display of more than 60 costumed bands on Kadooment Day on 6 August.

 

In what was dubbed a “fantastic” Friday night by calypso fans who packed the gymnasium of the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex, the finalists were selected from the Pic-O-De-Crop (calypso) semifinals.

 

The contest was a showdown of 19 calypsonians, including six former monarchs and at least two newcomers in young Fabee and Lil Az.

 

In the Headliners calypso tent, Fabee performed No Place Like Home and Red Flags, earning him praise from former monarch John King.

 

For his part, former two-time Junior Monarch Aziza "Lil Az" Clarke made history by gaining a place in both the adult semis and the Junior Monarch finals.

 

Final line-up

 

However, by the time the dust had settled, the line-up had been chosen to take on Popsicle on 3 August at the Kensington Oval.

 

They are: Adrian Clarke, Adonijah, Blood, Christal, De Announcer, Gabby, Ian Webster, Red Plastic Bag and Smokey Burke. The reserve is Troy Special.

 

A day earlier, the winners of the Junior Calypso Monarch Finals were announced.

 

They are Jazz-Z, who impressed with Cricket in the 8-12 year category, and Mandisa with a song called My Advice in the 13-18 year segment.

 

Packed programme

 

And there are more events to come, including the Junior Kadooment of children's costumed bands at the National Stadium on 28 July.

 

Next are the grand Soca Royale finals at Bushy Park motor-racing circuit in St Philip on 29 July and the Crop Over Folk Concert on 1 August.

 

Crop Over, which informally dates back to pre-Emancipation days when enslaved people celebrated the end of the sugar crop on plantations across Barbados, also showcases visual art via the Evening of Interpretation on 2 August, followed by displays of art and craft at the Bridgetown Market on 3 August.

 

That will be followed by the 4 August Foreday Morning Jam, similar to Trinidad’s J’Ouvert in its combination of early morning revelry, paint, oil and steelpan.

 

Then there is Cohobblopot on 5 August, where the best of the Crop Over 2012 artistes come together on one stage.

 

Kadooment climax

 

The whole thing climaxes with Grand Kadooment, showcasing more than 50,000 costumed revellers wining and grinding behind music trucks, from Warrens through the National Stadium and on to the Spring Garden Highway.

 

It will be a virtual music and entertainment feast, aptly dubbed “the sweetest summer festival”.

 

Crop Over was officially revived in Barbados in 1974 as a way of capturing tourists in the slow “trough” period of June to August, thereby adding to the traditional winter high-occupancy December-April months.

 

It has grown into the island’s leading music and entertainment festival.