(OBSERVER)While the Soca Diva Claudette ‘CP’ Peters continues to solidify her legacy as the Groovy queen of Antigua’s Carnival, Empress rose to take her place among Party Monarch royalty by taking home the Jumpy crown.
In her first attempt on the Party Monarch stage, her performance of the popular ‘Let It Rain’ blew the audience away, laying down her marker and telling the world that the “True Wet Down Queen is here”.
Hope ‘Empress’ Serrant, a well-known face to the soca stage, having won the Junior Party Monarch competition in 2018, outperformed her other nine competitors on Sunday night.
After winning the top prize, Empress was emotionally ecstatic as she expressed gratitude to her supporters.
“I am grateful and excited to embark on this new journey…I am overwhelmed with joy; it is a feeling unlike any other and I am grateful all the time,” she said.
First runner-up in the competition was Guerin ‘DJ Who’ Hunte who shocked many with his performance of his song ‘Zero Gravity’, as the audience began throwing whatever they could get their hands on — including shredded paper, dirt and trash — onstage, in sync with the lyrics ‘pick up something and throw it’.
His performance was otherworldly, expressed by his astronaut costume and various performers floating above the stage—which at one point in the performance included DJ Who himself.
Observer media spoke to DJ Who following the announcement of the results.
“I came into the competition with one of the least melodic songs; did a lot of work to it, Donald Johnson and I … did a lot of work with it … me and my team here have been hitting all the events hard, showing people how to ‘pick up something and throw it’ and we were almost there, but to us, we are still winners,” he said.
Meanwhile, second runner up was Kimberly ‘Kimmy’ King with her performance of ‘How Dem Ah Jam’, showcasing a variety of Chinese-style elements, including a dragon, ninja dancers and sumo warriors.
The Party Monarch competition also saw a performance by the National Troupe of Nigeria, who brought Antiguans back to their ancestral roots with a traditional music and dance performance.
The group arrived on Antiguan soil Saturday night aboard Air Peace—a collaborative effort by both Air Peace and the Government of Antigua and Barbuda.
