Finalists of the International Groovy and Power Soca Monarch competitions will no longer be allowed to have their own bands or specially selected musicians accompany them from 2009. Executive president of the Caribbean Prestige Foundation for the Arts Gregory Fernandez announced this and other changes to the competition yesterday during a meeting with local hoteliers at the Cascadia Hotel, St Ann's.

"There will be only one band providing accompaniment for the soca artistes at the competition and they will have to work with this house band and no other on the night. In the past, it would take 20 to 30 minutes for bands to set up for presentations and this would throw off the show.

"The finalists will also have to rehearse their complete performances on stage before to ensure that they move smoothly," Fernandez said.

Fernandez said the competition has been re-branded to bring it to international standards equal to, for example, the Super Bowl. He added that CPF has recruited the services of various reputable international entertainment service providers to work alongside them in producing the Soca Monarch Finals, scheduled to take place on February 20 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain. Although not confirmed, the venue has been booked for the date.

The show will also be televised live across the world on MTV Tempo and Carib Vision, and television stations around the world will be invited to purchase rights to broadcast via a satellite feed that is being made available.

The show will be streamed live on the Internet, and there will also be competitions for members of the public to pick the winners using text messaging and even engage in online gaming, placing bets for the winners. A new CPF Soca Monarch website is scheduled to come on stream in September.

"We will have global coverage and provide a global advertising platform for the corporate sector. We have invited several of the biggest movie stars in the world and other celebrities to come for the show. We can't reveal who is coming now, but will do so at another time.

"Celebrities will be on a panel providing commentary on the performances at the finals. We are also working closely with the TDC (Tourism Development Company)," Fernandez said.

Fernandez was attempting to convince the hoteliers to team up with CPF in the international promotions for the Soca Monarch. He said CPF personnel will soon be heading off to several countries to hold launches of the competition in these territories, hoping to entice people to come here for the show.

Fernandez revealed that CPF is at present building a database of West Indians living around the world as part of the research on better marketing and promoting the Soca Monarch.