- FILE
Christopher Martin, last year's Digicel Rising Star winner.
Andre Jebbinson, Staff Reporter
TALENT SEARCHES are becoming increasingly popular in Jamaica, with huge amounts of money being pumped in by corporate sponsors.
The most popular is by far Digicel's 'Rising Stars', which reportedly generates a viewership of over one million persons per televised show.
Among the others which have surfaced relatively recently are the Red Stripe/IRIE FM Big Break and 'MiPhone Dancin' Dynamites' competitions, while the Tastee Talent competition is one of the longest running, having celebrated its 25th anniversary. Some contend that while Tastee Talent is the most authentic competition, the others are 'one big commercial'.
Clearly, the contests have an impact for the traditional way of someone getting that elusive big break into show business. They may mean that the persons lingering around studios in the hope of being recognised are wasting their time. And could the high profile talent competitions depriving producers of opportunities?
Not so, said Paula Pinnock-MacLeod, project manager at Digicel. "It's an alternative, not a distraction. People like Christopher Martin have gone on to sign with Big Yard. What it does is create an avenue to unearth new talents," Pinnock-MacLeod said.
Carlo Redwood, marketing manage at Red Stripe, also feels that they help the industry. "It
provides more opportunities for up- coming talents. Jamaica has some many talents waiting to be unearthed," he said. "We are giving the opportunity to that talent who don't have the funds and the links," he said of the 'Big Break' contest, which is now in its road show stage.
POPULAR PRODUCERS
However, music producer Cordell 'Scatta' Burrell, feels that the competitions can be more effective if they are more inclusive of the more popular producers, among other persons in the music industry. "All the talent searches are good, but at the same time, the Cable and Wireless, and Digicel, I don't see them connecting with the key players in the industry," he said. He said producers know what the public wants and they also know how to groom the new talent for a sustained career.
Pinnock-MacCleod said, though, that 'Rising Stars' covers the necessary ground. "We have people like Nadine (Sutherland) and Clyde (McKenzie) who are there to help them. The process takes something like 27 weeks," she said.
With Desi Young, Richard 'Shams' Browne and Elise Kelly, among others, as judges, Redwood said their competition is not deficient in that area.
Deejays, impersonators and humorous social commentators Twin of Twins are sceptic about the sudden rise from being unknown to stardom. "Tastees is good; a lot of other people come through them like Nadine and some others. The others are just one big commercial, they don't tek any time to develop the winner," the Twins said.
Redwood, however, rejected the claim. "Our competition gives the winner one of the biggest prizes. He gets to perform at Reggae Sumfest. And we don't put them at the start; we have them in the middle of a healthy line-up," he said.
But, with some of these competitions lacking some of the key components, Skatta does not believe it is likely that talent searches will replace the traditional way of scouting new talent. "I don't just think about creating popularity for the artiste, I think about giving them a career. Popularity won't help you to buy your mother house on the hill," he said.
Redwood argued that the Red Stripe/IRIE FM competitors are required to present four original songs upon entering the contest. This gives them the opportunity not only to gain popularities, but also to have an original song heard. "This gives them an opportunity even if they don't win. Their songs are being played on the radio and TV and they are purely original songs," he said.
Scatta also said that former talent search winners have had the popularity but nothing to show for it. Twin of Twins also sang the same tune. "People forget about most of them when somebody else win. Give tanks though, because dem a try," they said.
TALENT WINNERS
Scatta said that studios will still be filled with those aspiring to be unearthed by a producer. He said talent winners must "come through the hand" of producers just the same and that it "all comes down to good singing".
"They are competing against us, but they are going to lose. They won't be able to create the longevity," Skatta said. He said the local talent competitions do not have the international viewership as does the FOX television series, 'American Idol'. As a result, the success of the show is confined to the local market. Producers, on the other hand, help artistes to be recognised on a wider scale.
Runner-up in last year's 'Rising Stars' contest, Noddy Virtue, said these competitions help the Jamaican music industry. Not only do they discover new talents, but they travel to rural areas.
"If there was a recording studio in St. Elizabeth I would have been there hanging out. Most people can only plant escallion in these parts. These competitions are a good thing for young people who don't live in the city," Noddy said. "When they put you in the spotlight, it's up to you to do what you want."
This was echoed by Pinnock-MacCleod. She said winners of her competitions are immediately handed over to a label. However, Burrell would like to see the sponsors pay more attention to the development of the talent. "Cavan got tremendous popularity, but it didn't benefit him. There was a perception that he was successful, but where is he now?" Burrell asked.
