After those performances, if disco wasn’t dead before, Digicel Rising Stars made sure to put the final nail in the coffin.

It was supposed to be a night of popular dance music characterized by hypnotic rhythm, electronically produced sounds and repetitive lyrics. However, with such boring and life draining performances coupled with the thick tension between judges Alaine and Anthony, last Sunday’s entertainment came solely from the overall mess of a show.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, let me start from the beginning.

Divided into two groups, they waited again with their breaths held. You could see relief wash over the faces of the lucky five as the first group comprised of: Celicea, Brian, J-Lue, Sherlon and Oryan were deemed safe. Then the gorgeous Terri- Karelle Reid once again had us wrapped around her little finger and waited till suspense suffocated the air to announce which unlucky contestant from the second group would be going home. Then the video clip played revealing that Dahly was lamentably voted out of the competition.

Even though I was not in complete shock, as she gave one of the worst performances the Sunday prior, I still liked her bubbly personality and was hoping to see her redeem herself using that powerful voice she had.

But alas, the show must go on!

Last Sunday it was now Conroy’s turn to choose the wild cards. With no surprise, Conroy called back the incredible Casey along with newcomer Thyeisha, who dropped out before the Top Ten. Performing “No Air” by Chris Brown and Jordin Sparks, Conroy’s chosen two battled it out. I personally didn’t like the song that they were given as it didn’t really match either of their voices. Nonetheless, they still did a fairly good job. Unlike the first wild card battle, it was much harder to determine a winner of this round as they both gave such strong performances. However, in the end, Casey came out victorious as Conroy’s chosen one and was then able to advance in the competition, now a member of the Top Nine.

With the wildcards out of the way, I was ready to be out of my seat, dancing along to the lively disco music I was expecting to hear that night. Unfortunately, I was colossally let down.

9. Oryan

Regrettably, I’d have to give the worst performance of the night to Oryan. He had been a trail blazer and one of my favourite contestants from the inception of this season. However, his performance last Sunday was extremely disheartening. Singing the famous “Rock the Boat” by Hues Corporation, the song did not even start out with that punch of energy I was expecting, but then it even went further downhill from there. Oryan forgot the words to the beloved song on live television and after realizing his mistake completely withdrew from the performance. It just seemed as if he was trying to get the song over with.

After such a performance, however, the comments from the fear-striking Anthony made things even worse. “That was disrespectful beneath contempt…You should be ashamed of yourself!” said the wrath-filled judge. His words may not have been directed towards me but they still managed to pierce through my skin and make me feel pure secondhand embarrassment. It sent me back to those horrifying memories of primary school when the teacher berates one of the students in front of the entire class.

However, it was when his contrasting judge counterpart, the warm and uplifting Alaine, began speaking that the tension became so thick not even a knife could cut through it.  

“Don’t interrupt me!” Alaine said to Anthony while he was trying to get more off his chest during her speech trying to raise up Oryan’s spirit. Luckily their minor feud managed to distract the entire audience from Oryan’s awful performance, but I am still hoping he learns from his mistakes and begins to take this competition more seriously.

8. Brian

Disco night was basically a death sentence for poor Brian. On the bright side, Brian was forced to choose a song that was not predictable or expected. However, it was really embarrassing watching as he struggled to give a sloppy rendition of Barry White’s “You Are The First, My Last, My everything”. It was evident that Disco was not Brian’s strong suit as he sang the most disconnected and dull version of such a classic that I have ever heard in my life. It was evident Brian was indeed trying to pull through but as judge Conroy said “Yuh try hard, but it never work”. Unfortunately, Brian’s poor rendition seemed to be extremely upsetting to Anthony causing him to unleash a fury of heated words using words like “pathetic” to describe Brian’s performance. Afterwards his interruption during Conroy’s comments caused an uncomfortably heated conversation between the three judges as Alaine tried to tell Anthony he doesn’t have to be so angry. It felt as if I was watching The Real Housewives of Atlanta Rising Stars as I gleefully soaked up the dramatic interaction. Aside from the unnecessary anger in Anthony’s comments, there was truth behind it and Brian needs to get his act together for so far he has been doing a poor job.

7. Shanique

Once again Shanique has done a terrific job, at draining the life out of an energetic song. Performing Donna Summer’s “Bad Girls (Bad Girls)”, Shanique gave a very bad rendition of the song. She looked fierce on the stage in her dazzling red outfit and throughout the performance her vocals were pretty decent but there was just nothing electrifying about it.

“I don’t want to say it was bad, but it could’ve been a lot better.” Alaine said trying to be as sweet as possible.

Then immediately afterwards, contrasting Alaine’s warm and comforting comments with his cold and crude one came Anthony. “It was bad! It was bad! Can I check your pulse for signs of life?” Even though a tad bit harsh, I wholeheartedly agree with the strict judge. Shanique has given boring rendition after boring rendition, and to be this far up in the competition and still no signs of improvement is disappointing.

6. Celicea

I was a bit bored throughout Celicea’s version of “Never Knew Love Like This Before”. She vocally did extremely well, as expected, but it didn’t seem as if she was interpreting the song well enough. I wanted to see the thrilling happiness of falling in love on her face, but I never received it. The overall performance was pretty flat, but once again her powerful vocals managed to save the performance from being completely disastrous.

5. Laveka

Laveka’s glittery, form fitting dress was absolutely stunning and her tone was mesmerizing as usual. However, I didn’t particularly fancy her version of Michael Jackson’s “Tell Me Why”. Similar to Celicea, it didn’t feel as though she properly interpreted the song and there were some periods of disconnection between her and the audience. As Alaine mentioned, Laveka has a nice grit and growl in her tone that could’ve pulled off such a song, but she just didn’t tap into her gift. However, an honourable mention deserves to be given to the backup singers. They were amazing throughout this performance! Their harmonies were so magnificent and even though their parts were very small, it was very impactful. Nevertheless it was still a fairly good overall performance, nicely done Laveka.

4. Raihanna

Singing “Disco Inferno”, Raihanna came on stage blazing giving an extremely vivacious performance. Although extremely vibrant, it did feel like her “excitement” was a bit too rehearsed and dramatic, which caused a bit of a disconnection with the audience as well as a few vocal issues. Nevertheless, it was fun and enjoyable and one of the few entertaining performances for Disco Night.

3. J-Lue

J-Lue’s version of “Dance and Shout” had me shouting out and dancing alongside her. She gave the performance I expected for a disco themed night. Not to mention, J-Lue gave such a fun dance break during the musical interlude that had me stunned as I wondered “how did she do that in heels?” However, the energetic dancing took a bit away from her vocals during the performance. Nonetheless, J-Lue gave an entertaining and excellent performance.

2. Sherlon

What a great end to the night. Hearing Sherlon sing Cheryl Lynn’s “Got to Be Real” was like sweet medicine to my ears. After multiple disappointing performances, Sherlon thankfully saved the night. His tone is unlike no other in the competition. However, I wanted him to take off his shades so that I could connect more to his performance.

1. Casey

Casey came back with a bang, sending a clear message to Jamaica to not vote him out again! Blessing us with his rendition of “Oh What A Night”, Casey was the only contestant who gave a performance that truly embodied the feeling of disco. His quirky dance moves were a bit cringe-worthy, but that’s what made his performance even more entertaining. The “swag boss” judge Conroy said it perfectly, “Casey thank you so much for coming with that because I don’t know what else was going to take Anthony out of the wrath he was in!” At this stage of the competition he is one of the strongest communicators. Having the audience on their feet mimicking his weird bird flapping dance moves, Casey managed to salvage whatever was left of a disco night and saved the show from total disaster. Casey is back and he is here to stay!

After the train wreck of a disco night, I was left feeling disillusioned yet entertained. I disliked most of last Sunday’s performances. However as Conroy said, “Rehearse and come again. Dem cyah vote off everybody, somebody mus come back”. Hopefully next week’s theme will be handled with much more care and appreciation than what most of the contestants did last Sunday. As the famous Jamaican saying goes “Wheel and come again!”

— Nathan Walker