The crowd might have been smaller and so too the prize money, but for the 2018 Chutney Soca Monarch (CSM) winners Nishard "Nishard M" Mayrhoo and Neval Chatelal, nothing beats the feeling of winning for the first time.
Mayrhoo, a five-time finalist and Chatelal, the débutante, brought the heat to Skinner Park on Saturday night to defeat 2017 monarch Omadath Maharaj and controversial Nermal "Massive" Gosein who finished second and third respectively.
Mayrhoo and Chatelal delivered a hyped performance of their song, "Masala" that was reminiscent of a vintage Rikki Jai. Beginning with a fuse of chutney and calypso, the duo then exploded to deliver a combination of soca brass, chutney drums and crafty lyrics.
For Mayrhoo, it was a story of determination paying off, having made the finals before, but never copping the title. For Chatelal, paying attention to detail and proper planning was what led them to the crown and the $300,000 prize money.
The results didn't sit well with Massive Gosine, who performed, "Rowlee Mudda Count," which was well received by the crowd. However, there were those who stood still even as Gosine attempted humour in presenting Rowlee's family on stage.
He now plans to sing a song against the CSM promoter, George Singh.
"It was obvious that I was not going to be allowed to win fairly in CSM 2018. As you would have seen, the crowd was singing along. Based on the impact of the crowd, I was the crowd favourite," Gosein said.
"In all fairness, I would have won the competition. It was an original song with 100 per cent original lyrics, 100 per cent original melody and 100 per cent original music. How can you compare an original song against those who continue to thief melodies, lyrics and everything from other artistes from as far as India?
"The first place winners, it was stated, it was seen and it was glaring from the promoters that it was heading in that direction."
Earlier this month, CSM was cancelled after the National Lotteries Control Board withdrew its sponsorship. Within a few hours, Finance Minister Colm Imbert intervened and the show received $1 million. Singh told the Guardian that CSM 2018 was one of the best production in the history of the show. He said the production showed that chutney soca was "alive and well" and the competition will live on.