The talent, the judges, the audience, the celebration of fathers and the stunning host, Crystal Stoll, in a burgundy silicone gown, were just some of the highpoints of the GTT Plus Guyana Star singing Competition’s semi–final showcase. It was an entertaining evening of fierce competition at Movie Town Theatres that produced many remarkable moments. Everyone was feeling the pressure and urgency at this critical juncture of the competition and many contestants left it all on the line with amazing performances. Even the judges were noticeably impacted by the gravity of the evening. This was evident by their constant disagreements and the more serious tone of their comments; especially Judge Joel Ghansham who took a notably more critical lens to the performances.

Not every contestant had the fortitude to withstand the pressure of the occasion. We saw everything from pitchy vocals to botched lyrics and some cringe worthy moments as some of the competitor’s nerves got the better of them. In addition, the curse of song choice continued to be the ‘Achilles heel’ for so many contestants as they failed to choose songs that showcased the strength of their vocals. Thus, the evening produced many heavily criticized performances.

While some bowed to the pressure, many rose to the occasion by taking creative risks that was met with varying results. Previously dubbed queen of consistency, Josephine Mitchel attempted to separate herself from the talented field by adding dancers to her performance of Whitney Houston’s “I wanna dance with somebody”. This like many others divided the judging panel with Judge Joel Ghansham calling it flat and boring. The risks continued and added bits of drama via contestants Eon Nelson and Nigel Holmes who attempted to bring the emotion by acting out skits befitting the messages of their songs.  Even early crowd favorite Mikael Sam, attempted to create a ‘moment’ with his, performance of “Ain’t no sunshine” as he sat on a stool to help him visually capture the pain of song.

 

Besides the risk takers, there were the perfectionist and crowd favorites who used the platform to prove their mantle with brilliant vocal performances. Standouts included Stacianne Scott who showed her vocal prowess with a slayed cover of a “Let’s hear it for the boy” by Deniece Williams complete with her signature “growl” and that coveted whistle register note on the end that received praises from all the judges.  But it was Kelon Rover who provided arguably the best vocals of the evening with his pitch perfect cover of Billy Oceans “suddenly” in a performance that restored Judge Joel Gangsham’s faith in love.

Other crowd-pleasing performances came from the Visual impaired Relon Sumner’s who electrified the audience with the catchy Tune “Sharon Sharon”; and David Singh who strayed from his usually sentimental sound to do an upbeat indy performance that had the audience and Judges dancing in their seats. But the performance of the evening again came from Delicia Wright who has, so far, dominated the competition by delivering glorious ballads one after the other. This time she took a bold risk and delivered an absolutely amazing uptempo rendition of Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary” that would undoubtedly make the queen of Soul herself proud.

 

 

The entire production effort was epic. There were prizes for the fathers and free credit for lucky audience members. Caribbean Entertainment Hub wishes to commend GTT for the platform provided, the contestants for their hard work and dedication, and also to wish the ten finalists best of luck as they continue their journey to super stardom.

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