“Pastor Rod” and “Calypso Too Patriotic” Earns Gregory ‘Karessah’ Riviere Calypso Monarch ‘09

Gregory 'Karessah' Riviere Crown Dominica's Calypso King '09

By Nazarine Gordon

Gregory Karessah  Riviere   of  the North-Eastern village of Marigot is  Dominica’s 2009 Calypso Monarch.
Karessah’s “Pastor Rod” and “Calypso Too Patriotic” earned him the title at the end of a well attended  show, one of the  highlights  of the country’s carnival celebrations, which ended way into Sunday morning.
It’s the first time Karessah is wining the crown fter some ten years competing .
Davidson “Observer “Victor a former two time calypso monarch placed second. In third place was  Tarina   Simon,  who  won the title of  Calypso  Queen  two weeks earlier and  Stardom tent monarch  last week .  Another former monarch Andrew “Scrunter”  Bazil  placed  fourth.
“Observer”, a crowd favourite whom many though would have won, expressed disappointment with the judge’s decision.
Ten finalists competed for the crown.  2008 monarch “Dice” did not defend his title. . His team, including veteran calypso writer, Pat Aaron cited economic reasons for not participating this year.