People, Blood like he pun a roll dis season – everywhere dis mongoose go, de crowds responding to he! He get a big roar from de crowd from as-as he step out pun de stage hey at Kensington to perform Not My Son.

And he performance live up to de crowd hype – he put down a ripping performance of de song – come out wid all guns blazin’! Yuh could hear de passion in he voice as he sing de way nuff parents does reason when dem children land in trouble – dat it could neva be dem chile mekkin’ people snort. He get an even bigger set of applause when he did done.

Dat was a hard act to follow but de youngster Sheldon Hope do a pretty good job wid he song Hope. De song ent necessarily de kinda sharp, jabbin’ song dat does got de crowd jumpin’ up and hollerin’ hard but he voice sweet-sweet and he sing it beautifully – hold a long, pretty note right at de end – wuhloss! De boy could sing in trute!

Peoples! De ‘goose back fuh one more year – live and bitin’!

Yuh did wondering if I did gine come back roun’ nuh?

I did just keepin’ quiet fuh de whole season but now I just had to bound and scurry out de bushes fuh dis night ’cause yuh know dis is de Mongoose favourite time of year!

So just settle in front ya laptops and desktops and leh we guh down de road.

Anyhow, de Pic o De Crop finals just get started a short while ago hey at Kensington and de ‘goose did pun de scene checking out de competition and dis is how tings lookin’ so far:

Just like last year, Colin Spencer, de perennial ‘dark horse’ start off tings first. He come wid he song ‘Lyrical Master Number 2′ – wunnuh would know dat is de one dat diggin’ at Red Plastic Bag.

He start out wid a lil funny video clip showin’ Bag first win back in 82 and proclaimin’ de rise of a “lyrical master number 2″. He get some response from de crowd when he come on pun de stage dress in full red like Bag heself!

Maybe it was cos he come in at dat openin’ slot or maybe people ent too like he diggin’ at de man from de East but de crowd like dey ent really tek to he performance. Wasn’t nuh big response even though he perform good in trute – Spencer voice always sweet and de rendition was spot on. He ent do nothing extra or fancy wid de lyrics but maybe he savin’ de acid lines fuh de second half.

10 – 377 pts – Colin Spencer (All Stars) 

Wuhloss! De crowd holler out hard fuh dat one! Nuhbody wasn’t expecting Spencer to be so low down.

9 – 382.5 pts – TC (De Big Show)

Oh loss… a mix of loud cheers and a few boos fuh dat one… people like dey still unhappy bout dem double titles fuh one song ting.

8 – 384 pts – Hee Haw (House of Soca)

7 – 387 pts - Bumba (Headliners)

6 – 395.5 pts - Adrian Clarke (All Stars)

5 – 397 pts – Sheldon Hope (De Big Show)

4 – 398 pts – Sir Ruel (House of Soca)

We down to de top three now – Blood, Bag and John King. Dey dragging out tings a lil more by presenting them all with Blackberry smartphones…

3 – 404.5 pts – Blood (Headliners)

John King and Bag now shaking hands and laughing with each other. It’s good to see de kaisonians in good spirits and getting along…

2 – 405.5 pts – John King (De big Show)

1 – Red Plastic Bag!!!!

And de man from St Philip has done it again… and again and again and again to de power of NINE!

He got he ninth Pic-o-de-Crop title ‘in de bag’ and he now performing Something’s Happening before de ecstatic crowd at Kensington Oval.

And dat is all from me tonight peoples. It was good ketching up wid wunnuh fuh a nex’ year. I gine and scuttle off back to de cane fields now before all dis big set of people stomp pun muh mongoose tail.

See wunnuh nex’ year!

Oyoyoy…something’s happening… dat you should not be missing!

Dey just finish de performances bout half hour ago and Mac Fingall already back pun de stage calling de finalists on stage.

Dey just announce de winners of de King and Queen of de bands. Trevor Chase win King of de Bands fuh de fifth year straight and Gwyneth Squires win de Queen of de Band title.

But I know de title all wunnuh interested in is de Pic-o-de-Crop Calypso Monarch.

So we gine give it to yuh as soon as we get it…

So I went down in de crowd to get two lil pictures pun muh mongoose-cam so wunnuh could feel like yuh here at home in de Oval wid all of we.

Photograph by De Crop-Over Mongoose

Dis is how de Oval look when Bag was performing ‘Something’s Happening’.

Photograph by De Crop-Over Mongoose

Dis is how de grounds did look earlier on. De big blur of light in de distance is de stage (I tell wunna it did a mongoose-cam!)

Yuh hear all de contestants or yuh read me describing dey performances and we hey now coolin’ out waitin’ fuh de judges to mek dem decision.

But! Who is de choice of de internet judges – yes, dat is wunuh!

I want to hear who yuh got as de king (or queen?). And who yuh got second and third and why?

So let me hear yuh!

Dat is what dis mongoose feel.

She just finish perform she big tune Hot Sun and Riddim – de one dat win she both de Sweet Soca Monarch and de Party Monarch title last Sunday up at Farley Hill.

But trust me, me and my mongoose friends watch she up at Farley Hill and me one watch she hey tonight and de performance tonight ent match up to de one dat win she de titles.

From de start, de performance was real-real shouty. De song is already a kinda tune dat require some power vocals and yuh got to guard against sounding like yuh hollerin’ at people but TC din manage dat. She did sound like she did hollerin’ down de people place so it look like it gine got to be two crowns fuh she dis Crop-Over season.

De song all bout how nobody can’t scandal he name cos he character intact – he doh talk people name nor cheat, nor t’ief. He also pay tribute to some prominent people who pass way in recent years like Kathleen Drayton, Jeanette Layne-Clarke, Stephen Alleyne and Terry Mayers and talk bout how even after dey gone people speak well bout dem cos dey got good character.

De song alright and Sheldon voice nice but it did missin’ da li’l somet’ing else extra to really mek dis mongoose move.

De song is like a reverse to de song he win de monarchy wid last year when he tell people to ‘Put Dat In Yuh Song’.

Dis year, he talking bout wha people putting out – illegal immigrants, bad examples, all kinda t’ings.

De song lyrically sound and yuh know AC could hardly ever do wrong when it come to vocals. De voice did sweet and sugary as usual and he din bother wid nuh big set of moving round de stage, he just stand and deliver.

He get some reaction out de crowd when he pelt a few licks in de last verse – he pelt a jab at he former bandmate TC over she double-win fuh de same song and some in de RPB fans telling dem he gine tell dem where dey could dispose of all de plastic dey wavin’. But de last line which was a nex’ jab at Bag, kinda fizzle – it wasn’t sharp enough or had enough double entendre and he coulda do without it to tell de trute.

But… de people pun de ground din feeling it – and seein’ as how I’s a mongoose, yuh know I does know wha gine on down dey. Keeping muh ear close to de ground is muh speciality.

Coming after Bag mash up de place, dat can’t be easy at all, at all and he come on wid confidence to perform de song Where Are de Calypsonians.

De song got good solid lyrics and asking some hard questions of de more established people in de art form about whether dem tekkin’ dem duties as kaisonians seriously.

I gine tell wunnuh – he come out like more of a calypsonian than some of he seniors dat in de competition years before he.

He voice was mostly strong but he struggle a bit pun de last high note when he try to add in some drama and add an extra high note to finish pun. He was ketching it at first but he try to hold it a bit too long and it slip way from he.

But dat is de only criticism. It was a solid performance from de youngster and even doh de crowd was coming down offa dem RPB high, dey still give he support. I like to see dat becausin’ when de Bags, John Kings and all uh dem gone long out de contest, it is youngsters like Sir Ruel who got to carry de contest and it ent got summuch young people dat interested in kaiso nuh more. Everybody more favour de fast songs and de jokey songs but we need somebody fuh de social commentary… ah lie?