Trinidad soca superstarMachel Montano will be theopening act for internationalsuperstar Beyonce

whenshe performs in Port ofSpain on February 18.

Montano will be onstage for an hour, officialssaid, while Beyoncé's performanceis expected to last90 minutes.

Montano bowed out ofthe spotlight for Carnival, 2010, stating that he wasfocusing on personal projects, including making amovie, called Scandalous, "asoca Bollywood film, " whichhe had been working on forthe past three years.

The promoter of theBeyonce concert, the staterunTelecommunicationscompany (TSTT), saidMontano's fans would "relishthis opportunity" to seehim in his only local performancefor the Carnivalseason.

Beyonce tickets arefetching TT$1600 each, and the company said ticketsales have roared past the$4.7 million mark, with anumber of purchases comingfrom overseas.

The Beyonce showsparked controversy inTrinidad when it was reportedthat TSTT was spendingsome TT$10 million on theconcert. Local artistes andcarnival show promoterswere upset that the stateownedfirm did not commitsponsorship funding of thatextent to any local show, and were also critical of thetiming of the Beyonce concert, saying that staging itthe week of carnival woulddiscourage people fromspending money on thelocal events, as they wouldneed to save money to payfor the Beyonce tickets.

This is the superstar'sfirst show in Trinidad, and ispart of her "I am SashaFierce" tour of LatinAmerica.

Spokesperson for TSTT, Lisa Agard, said that thecompany did not "intend tomake the concert somethingthat is at odds with localcultures. Beyonce´ comingto perform in Trinidad twodays after Carnival is notsetting any precedent otherthan us having the opportunityto bring one of theworld's most celebrated performershere...

"And clearly, Beyonce'smany thousands of localfans also share this view."Agard said, referring to thesoaring ticket sales.

The show is being heldat the Queen's ParkSavannah, where a specialstage is being constructedfor her performance.

Speaking about theopportunity to open for oneof the most popular artistesin the world, Montano saidhe was proud and honouredto be chosen as the openingact, and was shocked tohear the negative commentsconcerning the concert.

"Having Beyonce´ hereis going to be a major effortfor us. T&T should be veryproud to have Beyonce inTrinidad.

"Montano said he performedon the same stage asthe superstar six years ago, when her former group, Destiny's Child, opened forhim at a show in Toronto.Steelband will also be apart of the Beyonce show, the promoters said, with thewinners of the large andmedium band categories ofthe annual Panorama competitionwill also perform.

Officials at PanTrinbago, the official steelbandbody, said they werehappy that the country'snational instrument wasbeing incorporated into theconcert.

The $1600 tickets arelisted as VVIP, and includefood and drinks and front ofthe stage seating. Othertickets are selling for $1000and $500 each