Chrystal Cummins-Beckles wins Regional Female Calypso Competition in Montserrat

Chrystal Cummins-Beckles walked away with the top prize of EC$ 8000 in cash, a trophy and a round trip to London, after winning the 2nd Euphony Vibes Regional Female Calypso in Montserrat.

The competition which took place on Friday, December 21, 2012 saw Cummins-Beckles competing against calypsonians from Montserrat, Anguilla, St. Lucia, Antigua & Barbuda and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The competition formed part of that country’s Golden Jubilee Celebrations.

Cummins-Beckles, the lone female finalist in this year’s Pic-O-De Crop competition entered her two self-penned and arranged social commentaries titled Fly on De Wall from this year’s competition and Forgive De Caribbean from the 2011 Pic-O-De-Crop competition. She was nominated by the National Cultural Foundation for the regional competition.

Cummins-Beckles placed ahead of Montserrat’s former female calypso monarch Silvina “Khandie” Malone who was first runner-up and Shereena “Shea Shea” Richardson of Anguilla who was second runner-up.

The other performers were last year’s champion Minelle of St. Lucia, Singing Althea of Antigua & Barbuda, and Shaunelle McKenzie of St. Vincent & Grenadines.

Cummins-Beckles, a seasoned and consummate professional developed her craft on the stages of NIFCA since 1999 and Crop Over since 2005. In the latter competition, she has been a finalist on three occasions: 2010, 2011 and 2012, but made it to the semi-finals in 2007 and 2008.

She was among the first intake in the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree programme at the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination of the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus and graduated in 2010. From there she went on to successfully pursue a Master’s degree in Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom. Cummins-Beckles also holds an Associate Degree in Music from the Barbados Community College. She is also a skilled pianist and a songwriter.

Euphony Vibes is a cultural organization in Montserrat which successfully produced the first regional female competition in 2011. The 2011 winners were represented from St. Lucia who placed first, Dominica came second and St. Kitts was third.