NESTLED in the cool hills of Hanover, the talent-filled Knockalva Technical High School was our latest stop on the TEENage Expressions Tour.

This tour started out with giveaways from our sponsors, and saw seventh grader Shandee Richardson and 11th graders Kimone Leslie and Latasha Dunn walking away with Flow and Seprod prizes.

Opening up the talent section was Montoya Higgins, who sang Rihanna’s Take A Bow, and had the audience singing along with her. Tyreek Friginette was next, and his swagging performance of Chris Brown’s With You had the audience cheering as he sang. Friginette jumped off the stage during the bridge and serenaded one of the judges, which again brought screams from the audience.

Joash Robinson also got screams from the audience for his performance of One Republic’s Apologise, especially when he did his chest shifting ‘heart beat’ dance.

The first original piece for the afternoon was up next, as a distressed looking Shani Walters did her dub poem School Life. Shani had the audience enthralled as she expressed comically the hardships of being a student.

Marshalee Smith and Shaneria Hastings took to the stage next, singing Jordin Spark’s One Step At A Time, which was amicably received by the audience.

Then, a break in the talents gave way to another giveaway, this time with 11th grader Tisonia Campbell walking away with a Flow/Seprod prize.

The three-member group Untouchable Four took to the stage next as Melecia Clayton, Akeem Bailey and Crisane Clarke sang and deejayed their original songs Hold On and Mi Bruck The Rule Mama Made and had the audience in a frenzy with their uptempo beat.

The Knockalva Dance Club did a dance to Beyoncé’s empowering Girls (Who Run the World).

Then school favourites the Knockalva Dancers: Joshay Green-Lewis, Daniel Miller and Clayon Colthurst wowed the crowd with their fast-paced, energetic dance moves. Their creative choreography to both Jamaican folk songs and modern dance songs won over both the audience and the judges.

Javier Campbell was up next, serenading his classmate and the audience to the song You Have Looked Into My Eyes.

Then Georgia Anderson sang Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You and got a round of applause from the crowd at the end of her performance.

The massive Knockalva Ensemble then cleared the floor in the auditorium to perform their delightful Reggae Medley inclusive of Bob Marley’s Redemption Song.

Finally, it was time for Pronto Cornmeal Porridge Mix Eat-off. Five contenders entered the competition, and after the porridge steam cleared, only one was left standing. Amidst the cheers of the crowd, with empty porridge cup over head, was eighth-grader Kavon Whittingham.

As the judges deliberated the talent results, the surprise guest artiste, Expression Tour veteran, Mixing Lab jumped on stage.

Mixing Lab got the audience riled up with his incredible beats, then invited up and coming artistes and crowd favorites AJ and Chilla took over the stage. The R&B/rap duo had the girls in the palms of their hands as they performed their YouTube hit She Want Mi.

After their performance, Mixing Lab took back the mic, and closed the show, but when he left the stage, the audience started chanting for more and he was brought back for an encore.

When the excitement had finally died down, the winners were announced. In third place was Shani Walters, while second place went to Tyreek Friginette. And taking their well-deserved first place and a chance to perform at the Expression Tour finals in June were the Knockalva Dancers.