Kings and Queens!

With the marathon events ahead of us we should be resting. But there's never any lack of errands or fix-it projects on a boat. And we have six overnighters coming after the "Kings and Queens" finals downtown. There are bunks and midnight-snacks to fix!

The Jesse James Maxi-taxi arrives at 5:30pm and off we head for the Queen's Park, Savannah. We're supposed to meet up with the Flekkefjord crew at the entrance to the Grand Stand. Will we find them in the crowds?
Not a problem! There they are. We are all ushered in to "Box O, Special Reserved"! Cushioned seats. Looks promising, this is a six hour event.
Part 1 is a look at the winners of the Junior Queen and Junior King winners. Soca sounds blaring the "under16" winners come dancing onto the stage with their huge sculptural costumes in tow. And this is just a miniature of the seniors to come.
Part two is The Calypso Monarch Finals. There are 12 contestants with each his rather long-winded political/sosial message to a calypso beat. The audience is all ears, cheering for their favorites. This is popular political satire and serious sosial comment. For us, from abroad, there are very many verses, as a lot of the points pass us by.

Finally, the Queen's finals. Beautiful butterflies, suns, fairytale princesses and green woodland-fantasies pass before us. They are humongous, towed on wheeled platforms, a towering structure of silk, paper, plumage, colorful and sequined' They shoot long wings and tails and rays far overhead.
And a dimute bikini-lady prancing her way across the stage in and under it all.
And even Bigger: the Kings! And fiercer! Lightning bolts, rumbling bass-tones, drum rolls, towing wheeled carts of towering costume-sculpture. They strut across the long Grand-stand stage. The themes are power, war, death. Enormous skulls and skeletons,war-machines, towed by a tiny He-man with his pecs,six-pack, bi- and triceps painted on. Strobe-lights flash, fireworks accompanied by Space Odyssey music at high decibel levels and bone-shaking bouble bass follow the structures across the stage.
There's no way you could confuse a Queen with a King in this carneval(country!)

When the second round of Calypso Monarch finals start we leave. For a tiny bit of shut-eye before the underworld night-parade: J'ouvert!