Forget tradition and put the party back into the selection process for the Party Monarch competition.

These sentiments came during the week from the music fraternity who spoke to this contentious Crop-Over event.

Last Friday emcee Mac Fingall suggested organiser  of the event, the National Cultural Foundation, incorporate radio and club deejays into the selection committee choosing semi-finalists for the competition.

Music producer  Ian “Hoggitt” Alleyne doesn’t share Fingall’s view.

“If anyone other than appointed judges are going  to decide then it should  be the public,” he said. 

A popular medium he suggested to gauge public response was text messaging.

“Not the deejays!

“Deejays have eroded the confidence of artistes and the public at large to the point where that responsibility cannot be allowed to rest with them,” he stated, adding: “Some of them either produce music themselves or are affiliated with producers. In those cases there will be  zero transparency.”

The issue is topical once again as the NCF looks to changing the venue of the annual competition from the East Coast Road to Farley Hill National Park because  of dwindling numbers.

Popular CBC radio announcer Teshia Hinds spoke to another perennial issue of contention with the selection process.

“I see the criteria a problem. If it is Party Monarch then  it can’t just be judged on that particular night as in what they do in the tent, as most tents don’t have that party atmosphere,” the 98.1 deejay said, emphasising the importance of judging the contenders on their own turf.

“I think it is important  that people come out and see the guys in their natural environment and see how  the crowds respond to them,  in the party,” she added.

While there is value in composing a panel with club and radio deejays aboard, Hinds too, pointed to the double role they play as music producers and stake-holders in the industry. But she added that from their relationship with the audience and the music, they were often in a position to assess which of the songs were “wreaking havoc” on the dance floor. 

“My suggestion is to have 50 songs selected then a listening panel get together and do a finals list like how they do American Idol,” she said, adding that the final decision could be made by another panel or even the public.

Deepu Panjwani believes there are other creative ways the radio/club deejays could be involved in the process.

“It definitely has to come down to the parties, people in the parties and what the music does in the parties. The deejays that play in the parties will be catering to what people want. When it boils down, it’s about party music and the key word is party. They best way of knowing what happens in the party  is to go into the parties,” he said.

He suggested a panel  of roving, objective judges should visit the hot party spots, incognito, to observe  which songs get the most favourable response.

In the interest of transparency, he said: “The deejays wouldn’t know they’re in the party; therefore that would eliminate biases [that might occur],” the producer added.

Cultural guru Elombe Mottley, one of the founding fathers of the National Cultural Foundation, echoed Panjwanis suggestion: “The more popular musics – party music and street music like soca and all its variations, should be judged  in the dancehall and  on radio play,” he said. 

Former calypso monarch Stedson RPB Wiltshire also shared his views:

“We have to look carefully at Party Monarch and the way the songs are selected. We expect to see the more popular songs and performers there,”  he said, adding: “The judges need to be mindful of what  the competition is all about  and that is which songs and performers impact the most  on people in the fêtes”.

Kid Site also does not think the artistes will be in favour  of being judged by deejays.

“The artistes would not like the deejays picking the music. The deejays themselves are producers. You have to be very careful when you say deejays. I would have to say retired deejays or those off the radio.

“Most deejays have an interest performing on the circuit and they want to see some of their friends promoted. So you can’t give them that kind of power,” said Kid Site, former calypso king.

Chairman of the National Cultural Foundation, Ken Knight, said: “The foundation is open to suggestions on improvements to the festival.”

The Party Monarch competition has seen a steady decline in attendance from  32 000 in 2005 to 7 000  last year.

l michellespringer @nationnews.com