Wife and Husband in Semi-Finals

For the first time in calypso competitions in Dominica, a husband and wife will participate in the Semi – finals, scheduled to be held at Carnival City in Portersville last weekend.

Chester "Daddy Chess" Letang and his wife Sherian (Electra) are hoping to make it to the finals and from all reports they seem well on their way.

"I am looking forward to seeing them go through to the finals and make history," one calypso fan stated.

For the couple it is a "dream come true" and they are embracing the opportunity.

"It feels very good and exciting as this brings us much closer together as husband and wife," Daddy Chess Letang told the SUN. "We sing together in the band house and all of that. I can tell you that it is very good and we are very happy for what we have achieved thus far."

Daddy Chess has been singing calypso now for a number of years. He first entered the calypso competition in 2000 and won the calypso monarch in 2001 with 'Your Destiny Depends on You' and 'Somebody Have to Pay'. In 2001 as well, he won the Stardom King of the Tent and followed that up with another win in 2008; he was also named Soca Monarch and Road March King in 2008. His most popular songs include: I'm In Chains, Your Destiny Depends on You, Somebody Have to Pay, Wild Wild West, Crabs in Ah Barrel, Hurting De Calypso, Forward We Go.

Asked about competing against his wife Daddy Chess said: "It's not easy but we have lots of fans and Electra also has lots of fans who watch out for her and so this makes it much easier for both of us to perform," he said.

Electra is no stranger to the stage having performed with WCK and FANATICK band.

"My reasons for being in the competition are because of my love for the art form and me wanting to explore another genre of music," she stated. "I love performing and this year I got this extra push and when I got that song I said I am in it."

They are confident they will make it through to the finals.

"I am pretty confident even if I am still in the learning stages. I am excited at being in the semi finals and we both are hoping that given the song that we have we will make it to the finals," Electra said.

Chester's song "Madness" was written by Red Plastic Bag of Barbados and his second song "Diaspora" was penned by former Calypso Monarch Merlene "Wizard" St. Hilaire and Steve Hyacinth.

His wife's song "Woman's Worth" was written by a Trinidadian.

Electra told the SUN that "when this song was given to me, I felt so good about it that I just could not refuse it. So far it has caught the public and they have responded positively to it," she said.

She says "many thanks" to the general public and her fans and friends for their "tremendous" support so far.