April 26, 2002 St. Croix's Mighty Pat took runner-up honors at the V.I. Calypso Monarch competition on St. Thomas Thursday night as Whadablee took the crown home for the fourth year in a row.
St. Clair "Whadablee" DeSilva is only the second calypsonian to do that. The other, Louis Ible Jr., reigned in 1994-97.
Although there was praise through song of Carnival's 50th anniversary celebration, the usual political commentary, poking fun and calls for attention to serious problems reigned.
Among the topics for pointed commentary: the high schools' loss of accreditation, government corruption, high telephone bills and sexual promiscuity.
Whadablee's two songs — all 10 competing calypsonians presented two — were "Fifty Years of Mas" and "The Race." The former is a tribute to Carnival; the latter zeroes in on the bevy of candidates running for governor this year.
Following Samuel "Mighty Pat" Ferdinand in the honors was second runner-up Myrel "Super T" Tong. Patrick "Soljah" Farrell received the award for Best Social Commentary. Whadablee took the Best Political Commentary prize.
As the Calypso Monarch, Whadablee went home with $5,000 and a new car from Caribbean Auto Mart.
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