Begun in 1993 as a local competition for soca artists in Trinidad and Tobago, called the Soca Monarch. The event quickly grew in popularity as it always featured the more popular artists and favoured songs for each Carnival season. It was redubbed the International Soca Monarch. For the first time acts from around the world became eligible for compete for a place in the finals and a chance at the envied titile of Soca Monarch. The International Soca Monarch competition is an annual dual-contest soca music event, the finals of which are held on every Carnival Friday (aka Fantastic Friday) in Trinidad and Tobago. Contestants n the event may vie for two separate crowns or titles, the International Soca Monarch (aka the Power Soca Monarch) for up tempo songs, and International Groovy Monarch for slower-paced songs. Recently an additional award has been added, called the People's Choice, which involves text message voting. Subscribers can vote multiple times for their favourite artist during the competition and the artist who receives the most votes is given an additional cash prize.
Is the People's Choice fair? bias? sensible?
