Lead singer of Kes The Band, Kees Dieffenthaller is suggesting that Road March be determined by songs played on the streets and not at judging points.
Kees came second in the 2019 Road March contest, with his ‘Savannah Grass’ being played more than a 130 time fewer than ‘Famalay’ by Machel Montano, Bunji Garlin and Skinny Fabulous.
Kees posted to his Instagram page: “Throughout the years of experiencing carnival as a creator and a spectator, it has been clear, to many, that this year, the “Song of the Road” is different to the “Song of the Stage”. From my knowledge, ‘Road March’ is a title that is given to the song of the season, Sparrow’s – Jean and Dinah, Shadow – Bassman, Wayne Rodriguez – Footsteps and Machel – Like a Boss to name a few. But somewhere along the way, what we hear on the stage has been pre-determined, not by the people, but by those who control the judging points.
“We’ve never based our success on titles and very grateful that our contribution #SavannahGrass has transcended beyond any competition, ‘cause this was its purpose. It’s purpose now however is to shed light on the system and ways in which @ncc_tt and @tucoofficial can evolve in these times so that the Song of Carnival can be just that. Road March should be the song played most on the road in general. Not just the stage and there are groups already collecting this sort of data. The truth of Carnival is one of the few things we have left as a people. Let’s give it back to the people, where it belongs. I pray that we all had the times of our lives and always remember how to live life like we playing mas! Thank you for all the love and amazing memories, God bless you all.”
The decision of the judges have not gone down well with several Savannah Grass fans, who say that the road march should have gone to Kees.
Source: cnc3.co.tt
Photo courtesy: Instagram|kesthebandofficial
