PHILIPSBURG:--- The court of first instance decision on Monday to allow singer Roxanne “Roxxy” Webster to the 2023 Nagico Senior calypso finals scheduled for Wednesday, April 26, at Jocelyn Arndell festival village.
The singer took the St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) and Soualiga Kaiso Artistes Foundation (SKAF) to court on Friday. She will be participating in the calypso finals. RoXxy was disqualified during the senior calypso eliminations featuring 15 singers, 10 of whom made it through to the calypso finals. however, of the original 10 who made it, SCDF said Roxxy and King Barrow were to be replaced because their songs had been performed before and did not fit SCDF'S“originality” criteria and regional norms used to judge calypso.
her dismissal was the combined decision of sSKF and SCDF advised that her song “Woman doing that too” had been entered in a previous calypso competition. this song was performed at a female regional competition in December 2022, which consisted of women only and was not a national calypso competition.
During Friday’s legal proceedings, RoxXy’s lawyer Nancy Joubert said whether a song composed in July 2022 and used as part of a talent segment for a pageant was invalid to be used for the 2023 calypso monarch competition.
Webster in a previous statement to the media said that it was the SCDF's responsibility to ensure that, on registration, a copy of the competition rules and regulations is given to all contestants. “once this is done, whether or not the contestant reads it, SCDF can stand clear of any incidence of the breach, as its responsibility and mandate to ensure the rules and regulations are explicitly known to all was carried out,”
she went on to state, “Each year's competition is a new competition with a life of its own, and should be treated as such. SCDF should not perceive on its own that, well, he/she is accustomed to competing so they should know. rules are fluid and can change, if they do, state this to all participants and stakeholders clearly, and if they have not, reiterate the existing rules to all stakeholders, inclusive of participants, the media, sponsors, and the public.”
