“The crowd was entertained by many guest artistes including Richard Valentine better known as ‘Chynee’ who gave two free CD’s to two lucky youths and ‘Toro Chaca’ an all girl Japanese Dance Group, which fully entertained the young males in the audience while dancing to a mixture of local and international music.”

“His track, I Love Carnival, produced by First Klase Productions, has given the rising star the impetus needed to further break through the often dog-eat-dog soca industry. “Feedback has been really good. Real people like it and real people talking about the song,” he says. “I wouldn’t limit myself and say I’m a soca artiste. I’m still young and I’m still trying to find myself.” Describing his success at the Soca Star competition as “very fulfilling,” the 2005 St George’s College graduate, who captured the crown with the song They Wanna Be Like, adds, “You feel good when you achieve something you worked hard for. I wanted to try my hand at it, just for the fun of it. I didn’t focus on winning or anything. I just said, ‘why not give it a try?’””

“Several local entertainers performed at the opening including the 2009 Synergy Soca Star Richard “Chynee” Valentine and 2009 Young King Jervae Caesar.”

“The April 16 party gave the youth aboard, and the young at heart an opportunity to savour some of Trinidad’s best soca artistes. The show opened just after 8 pm with 2009 Synergy Soca Star winner Chynee. The delegates from the other Caribbean islands showed much love for the Synergy finalists.”

“Another young artiste who hit the stage with Montano was popular 2009 Synergy Soca Star winner Chynee (Richard Valentine), whose martial arts-styled performance featuring dragon dances had fans chanting his name. The young stars were featured midway through Montano’s set. Montano hit the stage at about 1.15 am, nearly four hours after the show began on Saturday with chutney band Karma. ”

“St George’s College has also added one of its own graduates, Richard “Chynee” Valentine, to the performing cast. Chynee, who recently won the Synergy TV Soca Star competition, is a multi-talented rising star known for being able to perform various genres of music, from sweet reggae and R&B to infectious soca music. ”

“St George's College has also added one of its own graduates, Richard "Chynee" Valentine, to the performing cast. Chynee, who recently won the Synergy TV Soca Star competition, is a multi-talented rising star known for being able to perform various genres of music, from sweet reggae and R&B to infectious soca music. His recent hit, "They wanna be like", can be heard on the airwaves. Chynee originally began performing at St George's College in Carnival concerts and competitions held at the school's hall. DJ Richard Simply Smooth, also a past student, and Midas Sounds will provide the soundtrack for the fete. ”

“Chynee, the crowd favourite, captivated his audience with impressive martial arts choreography and a smooth delivery of “They Wanna Be Like” to cop first place in the 2009 edition of the competition. Dressed like a Shaolin Master, Chynee had the crowd eating out of his hands. Even before he came on stage, the eager crowd thundered his name: “Chynee! Chynee! Chynee!” He lived up to their expectations, generating excitement and eliciting crowd response fitting for a true soca star. The crowd eagerly followed his every command and Chynee, realising he had his audience on his side all the way, enjoyed his time on stage”

“Chynee chose to team up with KMC for his popular hit “Carnival Bashment” and also performed his own composition and at the end, walked away with the grand prize of a Daihatsu Terios and a $30,000 endorsement deal, courtesy bmobile. He told Newsday after his win that he was now “sucked in” to the soca industry and plans to represent himself and the genre to the best of his ability.”

“Chynee, who originally started off singing R&B and dancehall, said his song for the competition, “They Wanna Be Like”, was originally written as dancehall. However, he included more vocals and added more melody to turn it into soca. Chynee said he views soca as a genre he can have fun with. ”

“Newly crowned Synergy Soca Star Richard “Chynee” Valentine will also be performing. A graduate of St George’s College, Chynee scored huge popularity in this year’s edition of Synergy TV Soca Star. His current hit—They wanna be like—is in heavy rotation on the airwaves. Chynee originally began performing at St George's College in Carnival concerts and competitions held at the school’s hall. The school’s band Midas Sounds will also perform. DJ Richard Simply Smooth, also a past student, will provide the soundtrack for the fete. Georgian Jubilation has become an annual reunion with the first generation of graduates (class of 1958) to the most recent, as well as their friends and families, attending.”

“Just when patrons thought it couldn’t get better, Synergy Soca Star 2009 winner Richard Valentino, aka Chynee, made his entrance to a hearty round of applause. He began his set with his fairly new single—Chop Chop—before performing his award-winning ditty, They Wanna Be Like. He ended with I Love Carnival, featuring KMC. Chynee received an award from the National Youth Action Cultural Committee at its Top 20 Stars of Tomorrow Awards ceremony earlier this month. The show ended with Richard Trumpet.”

“Chynee was next to be called as a qualifier and the audience went into an uproar. He certainly has been a force to be reckoned with throughout the series and has improved tremendously at each stage of the competition.”

“I thought the night belonged to Chynee (Richard Valentine) whose own composition—Wanna Be like—was a tremendous crowd-pleaser. The artiste, dressed like Raiden from the video game Mortal Combat, commanded the stage like a professional soca artiste. He was full of confidence, inviting the crowd to follow his upward claw gesticulation while shouting “Fyah.” It was a sight to behold as the entire audience was synchronised in this act. All three judges complimented Chynee on his performance and Richards called on promoters to grab this talent. Also giving convincing performances were 645, Ayanna La Borde, and Derson (Anderson Nelson). Five more finalists will be chosen live on Synergy TV on Monday. Contestants are vying for a Daihatsu Terios from Toyota, phones from bmobile and a scooter from Scooterz. Live entertainment at the semifinal was provided by Olutuji, TC, Peter C Lewis, and Junior Davis. ”

“There are already a few favourites in the competition, including Chynee, whose martial arts antics and wining skills during his very energetic performance of “They Wanna Be Like” had even the judges speechless”