July 09th 2011
Micoud Star Wins Piton Soca Starz 2011

The second annual Piton Soca Starz crowned a new winner last Friday July 1 in the person of 22 year old Sergia Charles of Ti Rocher, Micoud. The finals of the competition which started on April 27, ended with a bang on Friday where a large crowd witnessed ten finalists vying for the title and giving very good and entertaining performances.
The Piton Soca Starz finalists included five ladies this year; Liza (who had a prior engagement and was an eventual no-show), Soca Pepper, Crystalyn, Blackberry and the winner Sergia. The other finalists were Soca Bandit, Lime Juice, J Buds, Shakir “Afro” Lubin, Kernil “Maniac” Gaston and Nervin “Mighty” Romnis.
Each performer for the finals was required to perform two songs, a song of their choice in round one and in the second round a performance with an established Soca performer here. They were scored in the areas of Intonation, Rhythm, Range, Articulation, Vocal Quality, Performance and Crowd support, by a panel of five judges.
Sergia in her first round performed “Push it Back” penned by Q pid with much crowd support. In her second round she complimented Teddyson John on his “Mash It Up” interacting with the former Groovy Monarch and showcasing much versatility in the process.
In second place was Soca Bandit of Laborie who gave a strong performance in the second round with Ricky T stirring up the crowd into a frenzy to “Mad Ting.” Third place winner J Budz of Soufriere performed “Bend Down” in round one and “Glo Koko” with Mongstar in round two. Kernil “Maniac” Gaston also delivered one of the best original songs on the night “Carnival Fever,” and performed with Pringles in the second round.
A number of the Piton Soca Starz finalists this year performed their original material including the popular Soca Pepper with “How is me,” Mighty with “Custom wine,” Afro with “Mad, sick, head gone,” and Maniac.

The Piton Soca Starz final was hosted by Nicole “Niki” David with Matrix as the back up band. The judges on the evening were Gaius Harry of WLBL, promoter and event coordinator Veil Tobiere, producer Courtney Louis, music producer and artiste manager Ian Sanchez and chief judge Toni Nicholas.
The winner of the 2011 PITON Soca Starz will receive a cash prize of EC$3,000 a recording contract for a song, the production of a music video, Piton Products and the opportunity to perform at Piton Sponsored events for Carnival 2k11 and Piton events in general throughout the year. Cash prizes will also be awarded to the second and third place winners.
The top three winners will also receive packages from Karib Cable who was a sponsor of this year’s event. The company will offer the winner a triple play gift certificate with 3 months free service and a double play gift certificate and free service for two months to the second place. The third place will receive a one month free service package for Cable TV, Landline or Internet from Karib cable.
Piton Soca Starz, conceptualized by WLBL in 2010 is open to Nationals of Saint Lucia 18 and over and seeks to develop the next aspiring Soca star here and to add a new dimension to Saint Lucia’s carnival. Germaine Serieux Brand Manager of Piton Beer expressed deep satisfaction following the finals last Friday. “I am overwhelmed and tremendously satisfied with this year’s event in general and the finals in particular,” Serieux says. “I think this year the artistes we had went all out to give us a good product, we had great support everywhere we went around the island this year so I must say a special thanks to all the fans, the performers, the Soca artistes, the band, the Kareoke team, our hosts and judges, the sponsors and my WLBL team who helped make this event yet another success.

Discuss Story