Singing Sandra

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Singing Sandra
Birth name Sandra DesVignes
Born 1957
East Dry River, Trinidad
Genres Calypso
Years active 1980s-present

Sandra DesVignes-Millington (born 1957), better known as Singing Sandra, is a Trinidadian calypsonian who won the Calypso Monarch title at the 1999 carnival.

Career

Born in East Dry River, and raised in Morvant, DesVignes sang and acted as a child, including performances in 'Best Village' productions.[1] She left school at the age of fifteen, taking on a succession of low-paid jobs.[1]

She was approached in 1984 by calypsonian Dr. Zhivago to perform two of his songs, and the following year was recruited to Mighty Sparrow's Youth Brigade tent at the carnival.[1] She won the National Calypso Queen title in 1987.[1] She went on to win the Carifesta Monarch and Calypso Queen of the World titles in 1992.[1]

She performed at the Reggae Sunsplash festival in 1992, and subsequently formed the group United Sisters along with Lady B, Tigress, and Marvellous Marva.[1][2] Sandra continued to perform as a solo artist and won the 'Best Nation Building Song' award, along with a $5,000 prize, at the 1997 carnival for the song "One Destiny One Heart".[1]

She became only the second woman to win Trinidad's Calypso Monarch title, winning in 1999 with the songs "Song for Healing" and "Voices from the Ghetto".[1][3] She finished in third place in 2000 and fifth in 2001.[1] In 2003 she won the title for a second time, with "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "Ancient Rhythm", winning a Honda Civic car and a $70,000 cash prize, becoming the first female calypsonian to win the title twice.[4] She placed third in 2005 and second in 2006.[5]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Thompson, Dave (2002) Reggae & Caribbean Music, Backbeat Books, ISBN 0-87930-655-6, pp. 5, 257-258
  2. Broughton, Simon et al (2000) World Music: The Rough Guide: Latin and North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, Rough Guides, ISBN 978-1858286365, p. 514
  3. Ferguson, Isaac (1999) "Trinidad's Women Set Tone of '99 Carnival", Billboard, 20 March 1999, p. 8, 87. Retrieved 29 September 2013
  4. Joseph, Francis (2003) "Sandra Snatches Monarch Title...Just So", Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, 4 March 2003
  5. O'Donnell, Kathleen (2013) Tobago Adventure Guide, Hunter Publishing
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.