Whadablee arrived at Lionel Roberts Stadium with the V.I. Calypso Monarch crown in tow Thursday night and took it home again at the end of the Carnival 2000 competition.
The veteran St. Thomas calypsonian captured enormous popular sentiment from the full house in the first round with his tribute to the recently deceased Trinidadian "Grandmaster" of calypso, Lord Kitchener. He came back to ice the victory in the second half with his commentary on the progressively sad state of the territory's government, "From Bull to Cow."
First runner-up honors went to the Mighty Pat (Samuel Ferdinand), a Crucian calypsonian who took the St. Thomas title twice a decade ago.
Whadablee — St. Clair DeSilva outside of calypso circles — also won the Best Social Commentary award for the song poking barbs at both the Schneider and Turnbull administrations but laying the blame on the electorate with its easy-to-sing chorus: "But it's we who put them there, Lord, yes, and now we have to pay with stress, and emptiness."
Fans in the audience got even more than they had come to expect as Whadablee, dapper in a formal yellow suit with matching fedora, announced from the stage in mid-song that he had written yet another verse just that morning. He then, of course, proceeded to sing it — noting Gov. Charles W. Turnbull's sacking at the start of the week of Health Commissioner Wilbur K. Callender.
The crowd also came in with enthusiasum on the chorus of the Mighty Pat's song complaining of V.I. Carnival Committee members making money off the annual event. "Get rid of them!" hundreds belted back to his lead-ins to the phrase.
This year's second runner-up was another Crucian, Patricia Ragguette, performing as Pat Raggey. The only other former V.I. Carnival monarch in the competition was Ras Regg (Reginald Martin), who won the title in 1998, succeeding Louis Ible Jr., who retired after collecting the crown in an unprecedented four successive years.
