PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – The greens of the Queen’s Park Savannah got here alive final night, because the inaugural Final Soca Champion competitors finals had been held with electrifying performances and accompanying theatrics. This historic occasion was a beat-to-beat battle for the ages which topped its first Youth Soca Champion, and can subsequently crown the primary Final Soca Champion on Friday February 28th, 2025 – “Unbelievable Friday”. As such, it marked a big milestone in Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival, reigniting the competitors aspect for artists, each established and rising.
The Ministry of Tourism, Tradition and the Arts is proud to assist this initiative which promotes each the native and regional music trade however furthermore, the Soca style. Past the high-energy performances and grand prizes, this competitors represents a steadfast dedication to the sustainable progress of Soca, its artistes, and the manufacturing worth of the sector.
Senator the Honourable Randall Mitchell, Minister of Tourism, Tradition and the Arts who attended the finals proudly remarked, “The success of the Final Soca Champion competitors has exceeded all expectations: showcasing the unbelievable expertise of our artistes and the vibrancy of Soca music. Plans are already underway for the 2026 and 2027 editions, and we look ahead to many extra years of celebration, enjoyment, progress, and world recognition of our nationwide heritage.”
In collaboration with Jerome ‘Rome’ Precilla, and the Star International Productions group and companions, Minister Mitchell notes that this occasion marks a brand new chapter in Trinidad and Tobago’s cultural panorama.
The Journey: From Imaginative and prescient to Actuality
Since 2020, the absence of the ‘Soca Monarch’ expertise in Trinidad’s Carnival has been felt by artistes and residents alike. Soca has at all times been extra than simply music – it’s a motion powered by group. The overwhelming assist of followers and households all through the competitors is a testomony to the unbreakable bond between artistes and their group of supporters.
The unequalled power within the Savannah reaffirmed the facility of Soca, and supported this reintroduction of a contest aspect – for the good thing about the artwork type. The added worth of a dynamic, thoughtfully-produced media expertise has additionally introduced the Final Soca Champion competitors to households throughout Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean area, and around the globe over the previous weeks. This, through native tv station – CNC3 with new episodes aired weekly till the grand finale on “Unbelievable Friday”.
The Final Soca Champion competitors has additionally marked a big step in the direction of the regionalisation of Trinidad and Tobago’s method to the music trade. By welcoming artistes from throughout the Caribbean, this competitors has set a precedent for better collaboration and inclusivity in Soca’s continued evolution. This debut version featured a formidable mixture of native and regional expertise, reinforcing the significance of a unified Soca trade.
Trying Forward: 2026 & Past
Because the Soca trade progresses, so should its artistes. The Ministry of Tourism, Tradition and the Arts helps all performers as they proceed to good their craft each on and off-stage.
This sentiment can be shared by the competitors’s Showrunner, Jerome ‘Rome’ Precilla who said “Competitors encourages excellence. A few of the finest performances you see are on a contest stage.”
Precilla is assured in the way forward for the Final Soca Champion competitors with the objective of encouraging extra native and worldwide artistes to showcase their skills, enhancing manufacturing high quality, and incorporating cutting-edge know-how and staging to raise the viewers expertise.
With this landmark occasion, the Final Soca Champion has redefined what is feasible for the style, proving that Soca shouldn’t be solely right here to remain—it’s poised to achieve even better heights.
Final night, Nkosi Sucre – ‘Sucre’ was topped the winner of the Youth Soca Champion class performing his hit “The Greatest” and taking the grand prize of TTD$200,000.00. Tobago’s Jaheim Thomas – ‘Verse’ positioned second with “Pump It Up” and Jahmike Bonas – ‘Christo’ got here in third together with his track “Unity”.
The Final Soca Champion winner, as beforehand talked about, can be introduced within the Grand Finale of the tv manufacturing, to be aired on CNC3 subsequent Friday, and can take dwelling the grand prize of TTD$1,000,000.00. Winners of the competitors will obtain over TTD$2,000,000.00 in money and prize winnings, in complete.
Youth Soca Champion Finalists 2025:
| Efficiency # | Contestant | Tune | Neighborhood |
| 1 | Paris | Lick Up | Piarco |
| 2 | Verse | Pump It Up | Roxborough, Tobago |
| 3 | Sucre | The Best | Palo Seco |
| 4 | Kristina James | Like Dat | El Dorado |
| 5 | Christo | Unity | South Oropouche |
| 6 | Sackie | Desk | Diego Martin |
Final Soca Champion Finalists 2025:
| Efficiency # | Contestant | Sobriquet | Tune | Neighborhood |
| 1 | Akhenaton Lewis | Yung Bredda | Best Bend Over | Sealots & Vistabella |
| 2 | Cassell George | Cassell | Sensational | Cunupia |
| 3 | Heaven Charles | Snakey | De Hammer | Carapichaima |
| 4 | Wrenroy Ogiste | Blaka Dan | Blessing | Grenada |
| 5 | Orlando Octave | – | Public sale | Rio Claro |
| 6 | Shondell Amada | Sprint | The Tape | Grenada |
| 7 | Kemar Ottey | Ding Dong | Throwback | Level Fortin |
| 8 | Imran Beharry | GI | Mocking Mouth | Princes City |
| 9 | Anika Berry | – | Saddle | San Juan |
| 10 | Akeem Probability | Preedy | Blaze Hearth | Maloney Gardens |
| 11 | Nailah Blackman | – | Without end | San Fernando |
