PHILIPSBURG--The Court of First Instance has ordered St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCFD) and Soualiga Kaiso Artistes Foundation (SKAF) to admit calypsonian Roxanne “Roxxy” Louisette Webster to the 2023 Senior Calypso Competition Finals which are scheduled for Wednesday, April 26.
Monday’s ruling by the court follows an injunction filed by the singer against the two foundations after she was disqualified following the eliminations in the Senior Calypso Competition, which took place on March 24.
Roxxy finished in second place in the eliminations with her song “Woman Doin That Too!” Two days later, SCDF published a press release in which it stated that Roxxy and a second contestant were disqualified, due to the fact that their “snag songs” were performed before and did not fit the “originality” criteria of the SCDF and regional norms used to judge calypso.
Roxxy successfully contested her disqualification. The court ordered SCDF to admit the singer to the Senior Calyso Competition Finals. In case of non-compliance, SCDF will have to pay US $10,000 in penalties.
