Konris named Joint Leeward Islands Calypso King after Successful Appeal

Basseterre, St. Kitts (August 23, 2012) — An unprecedented appeal lodged by Team Konris Manager, Mr Linkon Maynard, that has been hailed by the Leeward Islands Calypso Committee as ‘professional’ has seen the decision of the 2012 Leeward Islands Calypso Show amended, acknowledging that King Konris of St. Kitts ought to have been crowned the King.

It has however declared King Konris a joint winner with the previously declared winner, King De Bear. The Committee has in a press release on Thursday August 23 categorically stated that “if any contestant is ranked first by a majority of the judges, he or she is automatically declared the winner.”

On the night of the competition in Anguilla, Saturday August 11, Montserrat-born Mr Keithroy ‘De Bear’ Morson of Antigua who was 2nd runner-up in 2011 was declared the new Leeward Islands Calypso King. Mr Konris Maynard ‘King Konris’ of St. Kitts who was the 1st runner-up in 2011 was named the 1st runner-up for a second time.

However the score sheets had Judges 1, 2, and 4 ranking King Konris of St. Kitts as first, while only two judges (Judges 3 and 5) had King De Bear as the first. If they would have followed their own ranking system as admitted in the press release, then King Konris would have been declared the winner.

Mr Linkon Maynard who acted as the manager of King Konris Team raised the issue with the Leeward Islands Calypso Committee, and in a letter dated August 20, the chairman of the Committee, Mr Joseph Vanterpool conceded that there was an oversight and apologised to Mr Maynard, while at the same time praising him for his professional approach.

In their press release of August 23, the committee explained how the oversight came about: “At the end of the 2012 Leeward Island Calypso Competition (LICC) the Auditors informed the Committee that there was a tie in the total rank for the first place position between De Bear of Antigua and Konris of St. Kitts, both with a total rank of 10.”

The Committee further states that “Without having a look at the broadsheet of all scores and rankings, the committee advised the auditors to break the tie by using the raw scores. De Bear scored 795 points and Konris 766 points. On this basis, De bear was declared the winner of the competition.”

But after the Committee would have received the complaint from Mr Maynard, they acknowledge it indirectly by stating: “On Monday 13th August the Committee discovered that there was an oversight made on the night of the competition when determining the winner.

“Konris was ranked first by three judges. The Committee has discussed the overall situation and took into account all factors, and made the decision to declare King Konris and De Bear as joint winners of the 2012, LICC”

The Committee has absolved the five judges along with the auditors and commented that they did an outstanding job. “We thank both sets of individuals for the great job they continue to do. The Committee without reservation acknowledges that an oversight was made when instructions were given to the Auditor as to how to determine the winner.”

Maynard said that the error was discovered when he perused and examined the summary score sheet given to Konris by the Committee at the end of the competition on Saturday night. The LICC has always distributed this summary sheet to participating calypsonian after the results are announced.

Reflecting on the whole issue, Mr Linkon Maynard has stated: “We are glad that they have come to that decision because we did not contemplate asking them to ask De Bear to give up the crown.

“He has been crowned in the public. It wasn’t his fault, so this is amenable to us; we can live with that as joint winners. King Konris, has no problem with the declaration of the joint winners, even though it was sad that he was not able to bash in the glory of an on-stage coronation, but is elated and satisfied that the error have been resolved.”

Maynard said that he wanted to reiterate that his appeal to the committee was never a case of questioning the judges’ decision. “Team King Konris has always respected the judges’ decision and we continue to stand by the premise that the judges’ decision is final. However, organisations must put stringent measures in place to ensure that the real judges’ decision is the one that is announced to public.”