Summary
- Audio from Helon Francis’ Dimanche Gras finals performance briefly vanished on the live TTT broadcast.
- The drop occurred during a politically pointed section referencing free expression and the proposed ZOSO legislation.
- The in-venue audience and judges heard the performance; the issue affected only the television transmission feed.
- TTT says a Dante digital audio network connectivity/synchronisation failure caused the temporary outage.
- The timing fuelled online censorship speculation; Government MP Barry Padarath dismissed the claims and backed free expression.
CONTROVERARY reigned on Sunday night after audio from National Calypso Monarch Helon Francis performance was briefly lost during the live broadcast of the Dimanche Gras show on State-owned Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT).
The disruption happened as Francis—performing his calypso “Doh Forget” as the 11th of 12 finalists at the Queen’s Park Savannah—reached a politically charged passage touching on freedom of expression and the proposed ZOSO legislation.
The ZOSO Bill, which would have allowed the State to designate high-crime communities as special security zones with expanded police and military powers, was defeated in the Senate in January after failing to secure the required three-fifths majority.
Inside the venue, the performance continued without interruption, and the judging panel heard the song clearly. Television viewers, however, were left without sound for part of the segment, triggering immediate reaction online as the show continued.
Within minutes, social media users and commentators questioned whether the timing of the audio loss was coincidence or censorship.
On Monday, TTT issued a statement attributing the incident to a technical problem—“a connectivity failure within the Dante digital audio network, resulting in a temporary loss of audio signal to the primary mixing console.”
TTT said both the primary and secondary Dante audio systems “experienced a simultaneous loss of connectivity,” which engineers believed was caused by “a localised network or synchronisation issue.” The broadcaster stressed the issue affected only the transmission feed and said engineers restored audio through system restarts and a final console reset.
Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath also rejected claims the incident was tied to the content of Francis’ performance. “TTT has issued a statement on what occurred with their live broadcast. It didn’t originate from them, from what we understand,” he said, adding that there was “no attempt to prevent freedom of speech or engage in any attempt to suppress artistes.”
Padarath described opposition claims as “theatrics, robber talk and bacchanal,” and said Dimanche Gras remains a State-funded cultural event with no effort to silence performers. “The Government continues to defend the rights of all citizens to be able to express themselves within the law,” he said.
Terri Lyons won the 2026 Calypso Monarch competition with Rivaldo London second with “Water Thicker,” while Samraj “Rikki Jai” Jaimungal finished third with “Doh Spoil Meh Name.”
