"Forget the hate and spite, if we unite, we could put up a fight," sings Eunice Peters as she takes to the stage in San Fernando, a city in the southwest of Trinidad. บาคาร่า666
The lyrics may not be what you would normally expect to hear in a calypso song but this year's celebrations in this carnival-mad twin island nation are happening against a backdrop of spiralling crime.
2022 was the deadliest year in Trinidad and Tobago's history with 605 recorded murders in the country of 1.3m inhabitants, according to police figures.
"Close them borders to stop the inflow of guns, it's time to modernise we education system," Ms Peters belts out from the Skinner Park stage during the semi-finals of the National Calypso Monarch competition.