Rising Stars Update

Rising Stars is the Jamaican version of American Idol - minus the off-screen drama :) and is a production of Television Jamaica. (It's main sponsor is Digicel Jamaica).

Oh goodness...I can now breathe...whew!:)

I tell you, Rising Stars on Sunday night was hot!...do let me catch my breath :).

Nickeisha Barnes performed three songs:

1)  "I’m Going Down" by Mary J Blige, in which she gave a stellar performance as usual

2)  "A Medley of Songs" by Alaine Laughton, which really demonstrated Nickeisha's full voice range

3) "Karma" by Alicia Keys.

At the end of her performances, judge Anthony Miller, who had chosen Nickeisha as his wild card to be among the 10 finalists,  really said what the Jamaican public felt,  that she stood alone, but stood tall.

I tell you this girl is not only a star, but an excellent singer!

And, let me get to One Third (the other heat-givers of the night):

They sang:

1) "Homely Girl" by the Shylites, which was an excellent performance!

2) "Africa" by Toto, which was a very dangerous song to do in the final round, due to the highly pitched notes. But they pulled it off, for the most part. One of the trio was “off key” during segments of their rendition, but the judges thought that their performance stamped the night.

Judge Clyde McKenzie reminded us that Toto had won eight (8) Grammy Awards for the Africa album and remarked that One Third really did justice to the song.

3) "Medley on the Half-Way-Tree Riddim".

After One Third's performances, the girls in studio were hot...the girls in front of their TV sets were hot. I tell you, on Sunday night, most Jamaicans had unusually high temperatures, and it was not as a result of the climate!:)

Judge Nadine Sutherland thought that One Third , "blew the roof off".

Well, as Friday October 6, 2006, approaches, we're all waiting with bated breath to see who will win the Rising Stars crown...

Will it be three boys or a girl?...

The jury is still out:).