Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - Aujourd'hui 09:09

Jadel proud of her consistency as an artiste

Despite the disappointment of having a position in the finals of the Ultimate Soca Champion Competition snatched from her grasp, soca artiste Jardine "Jadel" Le Gere is grateful her five new releases are in rotation on the airwaves and in fetes. Jadel told WMN she was on her way to winning the wildcard spot in the Ultimate Soca Champion category, in which people had to vote for their choice to perform at the finals on February 20, at the Queen's Park Savannah. To vote, people had to visit and follow the competition’s various social media pages, tag three other people to do the same, as well as like, share the profile of one of the nine eligible artistes and comment on why the person deserved a spot in the finals. She said she had over 500 comments and was “in front by a mile.” Then, in a matter of five minutes, the person in last place jumped to second place. The supporters noticed and alerted the organisers to the suspicious activity. On February 13 the competition organisers announced they would “nullify the wildcard vote” and give the spots to the highest-scoring reserve contestants from each of the two categories of the semifinals. “Even with the fake likes, I won, because you can’t fake the comments. Everybody thought I was coming out victorious because I had the most engagement, but they came to me and told me I’m no longer the winner because there is no longer a wildcard competition. “What is shady is, if it is you nullify a competition, how could there be a winner? But there was artwork on their social media announcing the reserve as the wildcard winner! When I called and told them I would fight it, they took down the artwork.” She also said a reserve was someone who would fill a place if a finalist could not perform for some reason, so it made no sense to place them in the finals. If the wildcard competition was cancelled, no one should have been added to the finalists. “My fans and supporters are upset because so much of their precious time was wasted. It’s wasn’t simply clicking one thing to place a vote. This was hard work.” Her fans were not the only ones who were upset by the organisers’ decision. On social media, angry supporters accused the organisers of orchestrating the situation to bring mileage to the competition’s social media pages. They said it was a waste of energy and resources as there was a long list of criteria for voting, and those who were caught cheating should have been disqualified instead of punishing those with legitimate votes. Despite the drama, Jadel said she is excited for the Carnival season as she has five songs, four of which she wrote or co-wrote. [caption id="attachment_1140460" align="alignnone" width="819"] Soca artiste Jardine "Jadel" Le Gere says she is trying to strike a balance between talent and sex appeal. -[/caption] Jam Somebody is her biggest release this year. She said it encompassed the idea of Carnival. “Carnival is about freedom. There’s no restrictions at any time, no limitations. Anybody could get a wine or a jam. Anybody could take win.” Meh Darlin is a groovy love song on the Hard Jam riddim that shows her versatility. It is a melodious song about a crush and the experience of falling in love which, she said, people loved to sing along to. The other songs are Fitness with Trinidad Killa, a power song about getting in shape for the road on the Her Mudda riddim; Remote, a song with dance instructions on the Big Road riddim; and Bubblin Champion, a club song written by DJ Private Ryan. She also collaborated with two young upcoming artistes – Juniah Lifa and Millbeatz on a woman empowerment song called Own Woman, and Shiva M on a chutney soca love song called Awo Na, which was in the top five on the 103.1FM chutney list. “I would want the help, and I never got it from anybody before. I saw where someone would just come out on the soca scene, get that strength and collab, and reach where they needed to go. “I would have loved to be given that opportunity. So, although I haven’t reached where I want to be yet, I’m not waiting until I’m huge to give somebody a helping hand along the way.” Jadel performed her songs at several events including Army Fete, Evolved, Experience and Soca Takeover, and will be at Moka Xtreme, Wonderland, Brian Lara’s Carnival Chronicles and more. She said she has been one of the most consistent artistes in soca, bringing new songs every year, and she has been improving consistently. “I’m not where I need to be because there are issues the handful of females in this industry face. There’s a lot of suppression due to alliances that show preference to their artistes. You’re forced to join or create your own alliance in order to survive. “And talent alone does not sell in this industry. It consists of talent, charisma and selling sex at some point in time. If they’re not dressing sexy, they’re singing about sex.” She said people in the industry told her she is too sexy and that is what is keeping her back, because the focus is on her sex appeal rather than her talent. However, she said there were times when she dressed relatively conservative to perform, and her bookings, social media attention and buzz among the general public were markedly less than when she dressed provocatively. She said because of her body type, some clothes would look more provocative on her. She does not appreciate what she deems "double standard"s when someone else wears something and is praised, while she is ridiculed for wearing something similar. But she is trying to strike a balance between talent and sex appeal. In addition, Jadel she has performed in the US, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Belize and other countries where her music and performances are well received. Immediately after Carnival, she will be performing in Brooklyn and Miami, and she has other bookings to confirm.   The post Jadel proud of her consistency as an artiste appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.