Lady Tempest very nearly bowed out of competition this year, which would have seen the local calypso crown on another head.
Two months after she snatched the title with a gutsy showing at the finals, the calypso monarch reveals her ambivalence over singing her winning piece, "Don't dis my Ability".
Consumed by a lack of confidence about the song finding acceptance, Tempest pondered bowing out of the competition as, according to her, rejection would have been "bitter".
In the years since Tempest, whose name is Camille Goliah-Basdeo, turned to the art form of social commentary she had not done a single piece which accented her sight impediment. With "Don't dis my Ability", the visually-impaired artiste was venturing into new territory, as she puts it.
She said her decision to sing the piece was only arrived at after countless inner battles.
Prior to this, days of anxiety about the reception she was likely to receive resulted in a mental block and Goliah-Basdeo found that she could not complete writing the piece. It was then that she seriously considered pulling out of the auditions.
But the will to press on came from an exterior source: the calypsonian's husband took up pen and paper and wrote the third verse of the song. This spurred her to complete the song, and the same strength took her to the audition.
Suddenly, things started to fall into place. Though, as she said, "first blood was not drawn", Tempest was near perfect at the showing and got the selectors' nod as the top performer.
Determined now not to be denied the title for another year, Tempest who had placed second five times at the competition, went to Berbice on February 7 and called out to Rose Hall. The town responded and when the curtains came down on the quarter-finals, she was already being hailed `Calypso Queen'.
However, a presumed rival had emerged in the form of Ras Marcus with his piece "Go Fuh Cup". But Tempest said Marcus was no real threat. According to her, his song was not a calypso piece that would have gone on to win the title.
The reason? Though she admits that Marcus raised temperatures with his song, Tempest said it was mostly hype; people were expected to fall for the phrase "Fuh Cup". However, the words were not new on the local scene for other calypsonians had toyed with them before and Tempest was aware of this.
Touching on her runner-up, Mighty Voter, she said he had a strong piece. His song was "Walk de Walk" and Tempest said it was well-crafted and deserved a good finish in the competition.
But she said dethroned Monarch `VJ' had no chance of retaining his title with "I will resign". In her opinion, the song was too flat.
Singling out Lord Canary, Tempest said she was impressed with his song, "A Woman is a Woman". There is laughter in Canary's voice when he sings, she said, and such an art is not easily mastered.
For Tempest, her win was justified; it justified her decision to sing "Don't dis my Ability" at a time when no other calypsonian was singing about personal issues.
That song, the artiste said, is her confession and it came from within; it was time to speak to her critics who seemed bent on treating her differently.
"Don't dis my Ability", she said, is a candid narration of her ordeals as a visually-impaired calypsonian and reveals a side of Tempest that is weary of intolerance; a part of her that still sought respect in the field she has embraced for over a decade. Though regarded as a talented practitioner of the art form, Tempest has always felt that disrespect was following her. It was this feeling that led to the concept for the song.
Tempest stormed into the finals at Bartica in February and calm returned only after she reclaimed the title she had held back in 1995, cementing her status as contemporary queen of the calypso arena.
Tempest was a painter and an accountant before losing her sight and turning to calypso. Her rise to the top in the male-dominated art form started in 1993 when she sang her way into the semi-finals with "Rewrite dem History Books". Though the song failed to make the finals it was Tempest's claim to fame early in her career. Asserting that local history is often taught in schools from the oppressor's point of view, the song called on Guyanese to embrace history around them.
Two years later, she snatched the crown with "Is Only Talk", a witty political commentary on the early Jagan years after the PPP/C won the elections in 1992.
In 2002, "Survival of the Fittest" earned her a second place. However, unofficial results were that Tempest had won both the quarter-final and semi-final legs of the competition.
Has baring her soul and capturing the crown removed the spectre of disrespect? Tempest said people have not only reached out to her in a genuine way, but have gone out of their way to find her and pay homage. She believes the monarchy has found a home and plans to remain on top for at least three years.