Ten times Road March champion and Soca King Machel Montano is among the 40 calypsonians who have qualified for the semifinals of the 2024 Calypso Monarch competition.
The semifinals list was released by TUCO on Sunday.
The event, known as Calypso Fiesta, will take place at Skinner Park, San Fernando, next Saturday, February 3rd.
Back in December, while receiving the keys to the city of San Fernando, Montano told fans he will not play an active role in Carnival 2024, as he was completing his Master’s degree in Carnival Arts at UTT.
Montano, who also has seven Soca Monarch titles is hoping to add Calypso Monarch to his list of achievements, with his selection, ‘Soul of Calypso.’
The list of semi-finalists also includes several former title holders such as Karene Asche, Kurt Allen, Roderick “Chucky” Gordon, Terri Lyons and current independent Senator Helon Francis.
Chairman of the National Carnival Commission (NCC) Winston “Gypsy” Peters is also in the list of semi-finalists.
There are also some notable omissions from the list with Michael “Sugar Aloes” Osouna and Weston “Cro Cro” Rawlins not named as semi-finalists.
Nine-time calypso monarch Hollis “Chalkdust” Liverpool was also not named after he announced he would not be participating this year because of his wife’s death.
