In this devastating period of entertainment drought, like well needed, thirst-quenching rain, it has finally returned. The sweet 16th season of local talent search Digicel Rising Stars has commenced!

The program has gotten its fair share of criticism as many find it boring. However, as a singing junkie myself, having a program that displays local Jamaican talent just fills me up with sheer ecstasy.

After the first two live shows and weeks of hilarious auditions, the top 10 contestants have finally been chosen. Be that as it may, before the top 10 could begin, we had to sadly say our goodbyes to Christina Kerr and Hakkeem Green, who were indeed great singers but their performances last week were honestly a bit sub-par in comparison to their competitors. Who knows, maybe we will see one of them return next Sunday as the Judges’ wild card.

Either way, our 10 tributes have been selected. Let the hunger games begin!

I am extremely intrigued by the new group of contestants this season, and so far a few of them have managed to entice me with their alluring voices. Last Sunday’s show was a Dancehall/Reggae Night and the top 10 all brought their “A” Game. Nevertheless, some managed to come out of last Sunday’s competition victorious, while others seemed to be hanging on for dear life after some not so great performances.

The bottom five for that week’s performances have to be given to:

Brian gave an extremely drained execution of the classic “She’s Still loving Me” by Morgan Heritage. Even though Brian has a beautiful raspy voice, his overall performance was a bit lackluster and he seemed too tense during the performance and not entirely connecting with the audience.

Dahly

Dahly also sang a beloved classic, “Willow Tree” by Alton Ellis. Unfortunately, like her competitor Brian, I did not like her rendering of the song. Even though she found back her footing, Dahly started the song on an off-note, which was a bit off-putting. I expected Dahly to use that beautiful voice of hers to completely hypnotize me and draw me into her world of music. Instead, the performance felt bland and just did not leave a lasting impression.

Shanique

When Shanique came on the stage in her Rastafarian colours, I was ready to be blown away. I was really impressed with her soulful reggae tone, but her rendition of Protoje and Chronixx’s “Who Knows”, felt pretty boring and was overall forgettable. After hearing that night was going to be a Dancehall/Reggae night my cup was full to the brim with excitement. However, these contestants lamentably poured my excitement down the drain leaving me feeling disappointed.

J-Lue

Unlike the aforementioned, I was thoroughly entertained throughout J-Lue’s and Raihanna’s performances. J-Lue sang a powerful rendition of the legend Bob Marley’s “Concrete Jungle”. The song worked extremely well with J-Lue’s unique tone. Her exhibition of vocal prowess last Sunday was very well done. It was much more of an improvement than her previous performance.

Raihanna

Raihanna also gave excellent entertainment, adding her own zesty spice to the controversial Spice song “Black Hypocrisy”. She really embodied the song and made me want to dance with her. However, it seems as if Raihanna underestimates how good of a performer. As soon as I started to get into her performance, at some point Raihanna disconnects from the audience hindering the song from having the impact it should have.

Even though these contestants were great, they still did not give me that “jump out of my seat and buss a blank” experience that I was expecting for a Dancehall/Reggae night. My bottom five were performances that wouldn’t raise anybody’s pulses and were overall forgettable.

The top five for last night would have to be given to:

KiiShea

As soon as KiiShea stepped on to that stage in their fierce outfits I knew instantly that they were ready to “mash up di place”. They sang a dancehall medley of “ShengYeng Anthem” and “Independent Ladies. From start to finish they had such amazing energy. However, it was not their best performance vocally and I am still waiting on them to choose a song selection that reminds us of the tremendous force of talent inside of them both.

Oryan

“Yes Oryan! Take your place. You are already in the sky. You are already a star!” I could not agree more with the words of the beautiful judge Alaine Laughton. Oryan’s delivery of the 2007 Digicel Rising Star, Romaine Virgo’s, new song “Melanin” was an excellent way to start the show! His soulful and melodic voice incredibly sounded so similar to Virgo’s. There are times when he seems to be straining a bit to reach the higher notes and his transition from his head voice to his chest voice could be a bit smoother. Nonetheless, from start to end Oryan used his voice to cast a spell and had the audience trapped under his spell swaying back and forth. A stellar performance!

Celia Ellis

Cynthia Schloss’s “Send me the Pillow” is an extremely hard song to execute. Nevertheless, Celia Green did such a terrific job with it. Her voice was so powerful and emotive. She gave such a mature presentation of an extremely mature song and I was stunned from start to finish.

Casey

FACIAL EXPRESSION. The only word that rings off in my head as I try to rethink on the exceptional entertainment of Casey last Sunday. Even though he was sick on the night of his performance, Casey did such an amazing job with Benjy Myaz’s “Love you higher”. His quirky dance moves and extremely dramatic facial expressions kept the audience grinning from ear to ear. Casey’s vibrant energy was so contagious it spread through the entire crowd like wild fire. Definitely one of the best performances of the night!

Laveka

As the night came to a close, one contestant was left: Laveka Miller. What an exceptional way to end the show! This powerhouse of a 16-year-old gave such an entertaining performance of her Reggae medley. Singing Sister Nancy’s “BAM BAM” cleverly intertwined with Koffee’s “Raggamuffin”, the audience had no choice but to get out of their seats. In the words of Anthony Miller, “Sister Laveka, you brought the vibes tonight”. Excellent job and my personal favourite!

Overall, the start of Digicel Rising Stars Top ten was fairly entertaining and I am looking forward to seeing how well these contestants do for the next couple of weeks. Luckily, there is no clear winner yet which makes watching even more thrilling. Let’s see if Jamaica makes a smart decision this Sunday and chooses a worthy Top 8 that will keep the rest of this season fresh and exciting!

— Nathan Walker