Underground Trini Artiste: Digicel Rising Star Blow By Blow: The Finals!!!

Last night was the finals of Digicel Rising Stars...final-ly (get it?). I'm quite happy though. Finally I can stop allocating part of my schedule to pandering to the masses and get back to giving some more unknown artistes some shine. I've never really watched the show before this season but as finals go this one was both entertaining and thrilling. Ah mean, I can't lie like the judges and say that I don't know who will win but that doesn't hide the fact that both finalists are vocalists skilled to the point that they deserve US recording contracts right now.

Before I get into the competition; for some reason that seems strange to me, the organizers decided to cut the final person at the beginning of the show...and then have them perform right after? Are they serious? The only way this makes any sense to me is if the person knows that they're being cut from before hand. Crystal Daniel performed like she didn't have a clue. She looked fine when it was announced that she wasn't going any further but then her voice came in shaky and thin on "Still the one" by Shania Twain and she forgot some words in the song. I mean...which other competition does that kinda thing? At least give someone a chance to cry. On another note, Knycky Cordner looked good, probably the best I've senn with her this season. Toned-down definitely suits her. Now for the performances.

Meda Ellis singing "Fallin" by Alicia Keys - This was a good choice of song for Meda. It's a good performance song as Alicia Keys' signature song it's guaranteed to be popular with audiences. As usual she is technically flawless and I can hardly detect neither a wrong or flat note throughout all the while delivering each word in almost the same tone as Mrs Keys herself. At this point I'm thinking that the winner has been decided already. Or has it?

Erica Samuel singing some song by Celine Dion - In typical Erica fashion, the girl seems like if she doesn't know how she ended up in the finals and not competitive in the least. Technically she is on par with Meda but where I think she may be a bit better is in terms of style. Her voice has a sweet emotional timbre. With that said, Erica sang Celine Dion's song with more emotion than I've ever heard from Celine Dion herself. By the end of her performance it's now obvious that Meda's was good but second best. Interesting night indeed. On a sour note, the fake crying from Simone aka Judge Dredd was not cool. Aye, we've seen you on Westwood park and that wasn't convincing either.

Meda Ellis singing "Trinidad" by Naya George - I'll start by saying I've never liked this song. This song came out around the brief period when I stopped paying attention to road march all together and began forming theories about the idiocy of large groups of people. Nevertheless, I was really liking Meda's version with its precise dialect pronunciation and the way she roughed up her voice to perform. If it's one thing that must be noted, Meda is a natural peform and commits herself to whatever she is performing whether it's her style or not. This was the most enjoyable performance for me for the night.

Erica Samuel singing "Band of the year" by Machel Montano and Patrice Roberts - Vocally, Erica sang this song than Patrice sang it on record. In every other way her performance was very limp. While performing this soca song, Erica hardly made eye contact with the audience, rarely moved, seemed totally uninterested, didn't even wave the flag that she was carrying and seemed lost on stage. The judges scolded her but at the end of the day you can only win if you want to and I don't know what she wanted to do. Thanks to Erica, Meda took this round easily.

Meda Ellis singing some spanish Celine Dion song - I couldn't spell far less pronounce the name of the song that Meda sang last and certainly didn't know what it meant but it sounded beautiful. This kinda song is picked when you want to win; it showcases skill because of the song's inherent difficulty and it comes off as exotic, especially when you're gorgeously decked in spanish-type garb complete with a flower in the hair. The judges like it and now Judge Dredd says that Meda has her shaking. She's weird.

Erica Samuel singing "Take a Bow" by Rhianna - When it was announced that she would be singing the Rhianna track I was happy for her because I know that Rhianna singing is her strength. Sad to say however, I could not endorse the performance. She sang good and everything but delivered the bitingly sarcastic song with a straight delivery and I wasn't really feeling that. In addition, she performed the song like she didn't really want to be on stage and seemed like she wanted Meda to win. I'd really give a lot to find out what she was thinking throughout last night's competition but I doubt it was about winning. At this point it's evident to me that Meda is taking this one.

Oh yeah, and one more thing; Digicel should find some other purpose for the competition besides making a money off sms votes. Kay, the winner of the competition last year could only say that she was doing vocal training in an entire year since winning the competition. Yes I understand that the winners get money but what can they really do with their careers after being made to practice one set ah foreign music from week to week. At least organize for them to get a recording contract in the US or something. $100000 must finish but a career lasts a lifetime. In contrast, Umi Marcano and Fireball of Synergy soca star have made waves locally and internationally. Step yo game up Digicel. Da Face out. Check out the videos below.