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The Trinbago Unified Calypsonians’ Organisation (TUCO) has sacked tabulator, Samantha Richards, for “unauthorised” comments on the then ongoing 2025 Road March race.
TUCO revealed its decision early on Ash Wednesday morning, a day after Richards updated CNC3 on the competition to select the dominant soca song for carnival masqueraders in Port of Spain.
However, TUCO’s move followed a stinging retort by former Road March champion Fay-Ann Lyons-Alvarez, who vowed to withdraw from the competition. Fay-Ann hinted that her husband, Ian ‘Bunji Garlin’ Alvarez, is of like mind.
Bunji Garlin, also a former Road March winner, was considered to be a serious contender for the crown this year with Carry It, although it subsequently finished second to Machel Montano’s Pardy.
Yesterday, with hours left in the competition, Richards told CNC3 that “it’s looking like it’s Machel”—based, she claimed, on responses from her post and another judging point in Port of Spain.
“Machel is in the lead right now, Bunji Garlin right behind him,” said Richards. “[…] The people seem to be loving the Pardy—and honestly I like [it].”
In truth, updates on the Road March race are par for the course on Carnival Tuesday—although, usually, through anonymous sources. In the 2019 competition, Downtown Carnival Committee chair Wendell Stephen gave some insight himself in the competition between Famalay, an amalgam of Machel Montano, Skinny Fabulous and Bunji Garlin, and Kees Dieffenthaller’s Savannah Grass.
Fay-Ann responded, via Instagram, that the integrity of the competition “seems to be in a deficit right now” and urged TUCO to “fix it”.
“We have decided that the competition sector is no longer attractive to us,” said Fay-Ann. “The integrity, the way things are being done, the people they are putting to do the things that they have to do—it’s very uncomfortable and unsettling to us.
“In light of that, we have decided to step away.”
TUCO, led by president Ainsley King, responded fairly swiftly.
“It has come to the attention of TUCO that certain comments made by a tabulator assigned to TUCO’s Road March 2025 competition have surfaced on social media,” stated a release from the organisation. “The said tabulator has ventured to say that a particular competitor appeared to be in the lead in the Road March 2025 competition.
“TUCO has since relieved the tabulator in question of her official duties and wishes to assure the public that results of the Road March competition are based purely on statistics, being the number of times a sing is played when bands cross the stage at the various judging points.
“The opinion expressed by that particular tabulator is irrelevant to the results of the competition, which are yet to be tabulated.”
TUCO insisted that “the integrity of the Road March is sacrosanct”.
“TUCO upholds the standards of the Road March competition which are based entirely on statistics,” stated the release. “We wish to assure the public and competitors of the Road March competition that the comments made by the tabulator in question are not at all indictive of the results […] and were entirely unauthorised and not in accordance with the TUCO’s criteria and standards.”
Machel’s 2025 Road March win brought him level with Aldwyn ‘Lord Kitchener’ Roberts for the most titles with 11.
Kitchener was 23-years-old when he first won the Road March award with Jump In the Line in 1946. He waited 17 years for his second with The Road in 1963, but won nine titles in 13 years after that—with his last coming in 1976 with Flag Woman, when he was 53-years-old.
Kitchener did a hattrick of titles between 1963 and 1965 with The Road, Mama This Is Mas, and My Pussin.
Machel was 24 when he first conquered the road with Big Truck in 1997. Like Kitchener, he had to wait years for his second taste—which came in 2006 when he sang Band of De Year with Patrice Roberts.
Machel was the first soca artiste to perform on the Tiny Desk, which has over 10 million subscribers.
Eight titles came in the following 13 years, with his last being a collaboration with Skinny Fabulous and Bunji: Famalay in 2019.
Machel did a hattrick between 2014 and 2016 with Ministry Of Road, Like Ah Boss, and Waiting On The Stage.
Bunji has two Road March crowns with Famalay in 2019 and Hard Fete in 2023. He opted to share his 2023 honour with his wife, Fay-Ann, who had three previous titles in 2003 (Display), 2008 (Get On), and 2009 (Meet Super Blue).
Fay-Ann was 22 when she won her first Road March while Bunji was 40.
Mical Teja, Trinidad and Tobago’s last champion of the road with DNA, was 27-years-old at the time of his triumph.
Machel, for his part, shared his view on being “at the cusp” of his 11th title.
“[I am feeling] very humble, very hopeful, very cautious—[…] I don’t want to over celebrate,” he told CNC3. “Sometimes when you’re reaching near to the top of a mountain you have to save your oxygen and climb calmly.”
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