“A lot of things can become functional and dysfunctional. I wouldn’t say competition in carnival is unnecessary. I would say the poor construction of the competitions in carnival can be very unnecessary and counter-productive. Once we develop something and find ways and means to make it transparent, clean cut and clear, involve the public, have the set judges, make it productive in terms of benefitting the culture before thinking about the monetary benefits, everything would be good.”

Erphaan said competitions have helped his career, explaining that the competitive platforms helped him to become a better artist, placing him on a global scale through the involvement of world media. He said he would be damned if he were to discredit the role competitions have played in carnival.

“There are competitions on international platforms, just not in the same structure as we have it. When an artist wins a Grammy,that is a competition you win, through whatever points system, voting system, based on success on paper…so a lot of things contribute to the functionality of these people who have competitive forums outside. 

Erphaan says competitions helped him to become a better artist.

Alves noted that internationally, attention is placed on awarding artistes for their work, rather than pitting artistes against each other. “On the professional level you’ll never see Beyonce going up against Britney Spears or Rihanna. They don’t believe in that. They believe in the awards. Probably if we push for that, and build that it might have a better impact on the culture locally, but who is me to say that. That is just my opinion,” said the young entertainer.

Provoked a little, Erphaan was ready for us when we asked him about the alteration of Soca to deliver international appeal. Boy, was he ready for that one!