Calling all Bouyon artistes

Val Cuffy, the Public Relations Officer for the Bouyon Monarch Competition, has sounded the call for artistes to participate in the second Bouyon Monarch Competition.

At a soft launch of the 2017 Bouyon Monarch Competition on July 29, Cuffy said: "We are telling all the Bouyon artistes that it is time for business to commence. No longer is it going to be the music of sit down on the road and watch people pass by".

He said that the Bouyon Monarch Competition is providing a platform for the artistes who are growing into a talent and the music industry.

He said the new artistes have the potential to be a Benji or an Asa Banton and the competition will be the appropriate time for the artistes to make a significant contribution to Bouyon music.

In addition, Cuffy noted that to raise the bar of the event, registration for the competition will be open from August 1 to September 30, 2016.

He said that at next year's competition the winning artiste will receive $10,000 along with other complimentary prizes.

"We are putting out the prize money with the hope that the generous sponsors as well will come on board…I am calling on the government to make a subvention available to us through the DFC," he said.

Cuffy added that the competition is a national event and it needs the support of all Dominicans.

He said that persons have witnessed the demise of Cadence music and currently Bouyon is also heading to that same precipice.

"What these young guys are doing is trying to bring the Bouyon back up…we need to be able to capitalize it because we are the country of Bouyon music," said Cuffy.

Meanwhile, Kevin Francis, the Marketing Coordinator of the Bouyon Monarch Competition said: "Now at this time we would like to start and begin the new cycle of Bouyon Monarch."

He noted that registration is commencing early for the event due to complaints from the first year.

"We starting early this year we spoke to a lot of the media houses last year and one of the concerns was that we started a bit late, October, November. One of the concerns especially from the artistes was that there was not a lot of time to put the show together," he said.

Therefore, Francis said, the first step in starting early is by having an open call to all Bouyon artistes.

The event is scheduled to take place on February 18, 2017.
The Second Runner Up will receive $5,000; the Third Runner Up will receive $3,000 and each other participant will walk away with $1,500.

There will be ten competitors who will perform one song each.