There is an adage that states, “A child shall lead them”, and in essence that was what young Casey “KCB” Jemmott-Boyce did last Sunday night.
At just nine years old, she was the youngest contestant to appear before the judges in the seventh and final preliminary of the Richard Stoute Teen Talent Contest.
If Casey was at all nervous or intimidated, she didn’t show it when she blew away her competition to earn her spot in the junior finals on Sunday, and a place in the senior semi-finals with 572 points.
Jemmott-Boyce was exceptional not only because of her satisfactory vocals or sheer electric presence on stage but because she chose to showcase herself as an entertainer by singing calypso on a night that witnessed the performance of many ballads.
She did this in the first half by rendering her original song Believe, which coincidentally helped to land her in this year’s final of the Junior Monarch (6-12) competition. In this number, Jemmott-Boyce, dressed in school uniform, appropriately utilised each end of the stage and remained very engaging with her audience. Granted, her voice was not the strongest as there were some pitch issues and she may want to work on that for the remainder of the competition, but nonetheless she was good. What she lacked vocally, this youngster clearly made it up with passion and an obvious seriousness about her craft.
Her second song, a creditable rendition of 2017 Junior Monarch Sparkle T’s The Golden Chain was another example of her immense potential. What was great about this performance was that Jemmott-Boyce did not attempt to sound like the original singer; rather, she performed the song in her authentic personal style.
Jemmott-Boyce will be joined by Amirah Cordice, who came second with 560 points and Dillan Brome, who was third with 549.
Brome, the lone male on this night, will only improve with further training. He sang John Legend’s All Of Me and Above All by Paul Baloche.
While in the former song Brome was a bit challenged by a key change, he did recover well. Although his voice was very nice, and he exhibited good control and diction, it was evident that he was somewhat nervous, which was understandable since it was his first showing. Hopefully, this 21-year-old can improve his confidence because with two good song choices he can be a sleeping giant.
Other singers were Nicole Sealy, who again was a joy to listen to; Shanell Richardson, Jaliah Thompson, Lauryn Small and Kemara Blenman, who was disadvantaged by technical difficulty which she did not seem to recover from.
The competition in the Over 21 contest was non-existent as Christopher Padmore demolished his rival Kerri King by almost 200 points, 628 to 457.
Talk about projection, crystal clear diction, control, and vocal prowess – Padmore embodied all of the above. Unfortunately for the other contestants this year, he also has a dynamic stage presence, was not afraid to sing vocally challenging songs like Roberta Flack’s First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and Here I Am, and handled them with ease. And the rousing audience at the Divi Southwinds Resort in St Lawrence loved him. (SDB Media)
