2017 Calypso Season kicks off on 7th January with the National Calypso Competition Eliminations

Leona Peters at 2014 Eliminations

​The 2017 Calypso Season kicks off on 7th January, with the National Calypso Competition Eliminations at the Harlem Plaza. The Dominica Calypso Association Executive Secretary Daryl Bobb, advises that registration fees are expected to increase from the current $20, to $50 after December 19, 2016. He is therefore encouraging all calypsonians who are interested in entering the competition to register early.
 
Bobb expects the higher registration fee might reduce the number of participants, and thereby shorten the eliminations competition, which in the past has had to accommodate up to 80 competitors, making it the longest show of the Calypso Season. The regular entry fee on elimination night is $10, and VIP entry is $20. The show is scheduled to begin anytime no later than 8:00 pm.
 
Bobb announced that the Calypso Finals will take place on 25th February 2017. The Semi-Finals will be held on 11th February, and the Quarter Finals will be held on 28th January 2017. Meanwhile, the Dominica Calypso Association held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the Dominica Calypso House in Bath Estate on Saturday 10th December 2016.
 
Bobb noted that the association didn’t want to go into another season without an AGM. However, “Some members realized the danger in having it, and somebody moved a motion that the current executive remains”. Voting by a show of hands, the membership decided that the current executive should stay on, by a vote of 27 to 5.
 
Bobb said in moving forward “the association decided to have elections very early after the Calypso Season, immediately after our financials are prepared, so that we could satisfy the desire of the people who felt that there was supposed to be a traditional election”. The Dominica Calypso Association’s election is Constitutionally due in June.