NEW YORK, N.Y., Mon. Dec. 20: Caribbean soca artistes, Machel Montano and Super P, amazed attendees at a news conference at the Grenada Board of Tourism last Thursday, with incredible performances of the songs, “We Will Carry On” and “Grenada Will Rise Again.” In vintage Montano style, Trinidad and Tobago’s own “Grenada’s step-child,” as he puts it – Machel Montano, exhibited the versatility of his talent by rendering a re-worded version of his hit-song “We Will Carry On,” while playing his own acoustic guitar at the GBT, MTV and VP Records event to announce an auction to help raise funds for Caribbean hurricane victims. Trinidad and Tobago’s soca artiste, Lima Calbio, who has released popular tunes like “De Garden,” offered vocal accompaniment to the guitar-strumming Montano. And in an act that will go down in the annals of calypso and soca music, Grenada’s Super P, was accompanied by the guitar playing Montano, on the song “Grenada Will Rise Again.” What made this performance special is the fact that these two artistes had never rehearsed or performed this song or any other before Thursday. In fact, as Super P explained it, “I only got to sing the song once to Machel Montano just before the performance, and in a couple of minutes we were ready to go. “I expected to render the song accompanied by a CD track or acappella, but eventually decided to do it with Montano’s willing musical accompaniment. ” Many in the audience were visibly moved by Super P’s soulful rendition. This was the first time in Montano’s 23 years as an artiste that he actually sang and played an instrument for a public audience. As for the decision to accompany Super P, Montano pointed out that it was an entirely a spontaneous decision. “The noble cause of promoting the relief effort in Grenada, Jamaica and Haiti, made this exercise worthwhile. I am delighted to do my part in any activity that brings people together for a good cause,” he said. Although the main host of the event was the GBT - as part of Grenada’s efforts to inform the outside world of her rebounding tourist industry, the event was also a forum to promote the collaborative relief efforts of MTV, VP Records, Universal Music Group, and The Red Cross of America. These organizations, led by MTV, are behind an on-line auction of special gift items donated by organizations and celebrities like Wyclef Jean, Destiny’s Child, Ludacris, Britney Spears, and Jennifer Lopez. The auction can be accessed at WWW.AUCTION.MTV.COM. As MTV Networks Senior V.P. Frederick A. Morton, Jr. put it, “We at MTV are proud to be a part of this effort to raise much needed funds for the people of the Caribbean.” Morton led a high-level MTV delegation that included Melissa Drake - Manager of Public Responsibility, Nolan Baynes – Manager of Music Marketing Tours, Quddus – a VJ of Haitian descent, and Amanda Diva – a VJ from Grenada. MTV’s prominent presence at the event was well received by the Caribbean-Americans in the audience. In fact, this was seen as encouraging by the media watchers from within the Caribbean-American community, who have been calling for a MTV channel exclusively for and about Caribbean culture, people and events. Given the tremendous spending power of this growing vibrant segment of the North American landscape, it is believed that such an initiative might be a mutually beneficial one for all stakeholders – MTV, members of the targeted audience, and all interested businesses. VP Records was also represented at the event by some of its upper-level operatives. The VP team included Assistant Director of Promotions, Christoffer M. Schlarb; Product Manager, Brian Greenspan, and Artiste and Repertoire Rep., Edwin “Bagan King” Howell. Besides promoting the Caribbean hurricane relief initiative, the VP officials also took time to distribute free copies of ‘D’ Soca Zone 5th Spin,’ which includes tracks from two of the artistes who were in attendance – Super P and Jamesy P. This is the compilation series that launched the careers of international stars Kevin Lyttle and Rupee. Reprinted from hardbeatnews.com