Ideas to bring Foreign Exchange to Barbados

For years I have been hearing about taking Soca or Caribbean music to the world. If our artistes become big names in the USA, Canada the UK and Europe, lots of foreign exchange can be brought to this island. Twitter followers etc. can track where the artists are performing and visit the island. Remember we are trying to attract a younger demographic of tourist to Barbados.

Accomplishing the Task

To do this any available platform to showcase local talent should be used. It may surprise you who and what could be a huge revenue earner for this country and themselves.

I propose using these platforms: “Britton’s Got Talent”; “X Factor” in Britton; or “America’s Got Talent”. I saw a man on Britton’s Got Talent singing a song that was of the calypso genre. The next time I viewed it he had over 5 million views. It was a comical song about losing his car keys and cell phone but it was a popular video and it went viral.

Artist to approach

Potential revenue earners to approach could be Sister Marshall the gospel singer. Tell her this is for her country and not for her, if she is reluctant (I mentioned this to her before. She just listened but I don’t think she took me seriously). She could be the next Susan Boyle. Susan did not win the competition but she has over 100 million views on YouTube and is a millionaire today. No one expected her to do well as she was 47 years old and not very attractive. But she has now contributed greatly to the GDP of Great Britton. The UK audience would fall in love with Sister Marshall. She will be everyone’s grandmother. She may become a millionaire like Susan Boyle (you can follow her story and rise to success on youtube) but the money will be spent in Barbados and kept in banks here.

The group MADD should also be invited to use the above platforms. They have a song called “that baby too ugly” which would leave the UK audience in stiches. In addition, Erick Lewis could use this popularity to get a column in one of the daily newspapers in the UK like he has in the Friday Nation (Simone Cowell could arrange this for him if asked). They may not win the competition but the platform will make us all winners. They should bill themselves as comedians who use songs as their act.  This is unique and will take them far. The 12-year-old who won America’s Got Talent in 2017 could not sing as well as another girl on the show but she sang as a ventriloquist using a puppet. People love something different and unusual.

Other Artiste

Remember, winning the competition is not the main goal. I have seen how comedy has taken many very far. I suggest sending Captain Sawyer with his song “I don’t want any broomstick girl” and “Sugar daddy Sawyer”.

I suggest Gorge with his song “My woman left me but I still got my rum”. There is one out this year 2018 where a man is appealing to the young girls to dress decently. That would be a hit in the UK as well. There are other comedic songs which you may know of that will highlight Barbados and give the island and the artists popularity.

Serious Soca artists like Marsville could be sent to put the music on the “map” and from there smile all the way to the bank.

This idea may sound far fetch but the entertainment industry has contributed greatly to the GDP of many countries and I think we ought to milk it for all its worth. Nothing beats a try. Many good ideas were thought little of, until they were tried.

Submitted by Anonymous