LAST week Expression Tour took us to the east. This week The Observer Expression Tour team went south, for their seventh stop — Lewisville High in St Elizabeth.

Mr Armstrong, who was the emcee for the day, called on the first contestant to kick-start the show, Kewana Gooden. She did a song entitled Sufferation. She certainly entertained her peers as she was well received by the crowd.

Ashley Braimbridge was up next. She did the usual Roses Are Red kind of poem and tried to make it her own to spattering applause.

Rick Samuels went straight to the drum set and gave upbeat rhythms that had the crowd moving along. When he was through, he got a loud round of applause for his performance.

The fourth contestant Ricardo Dennis had the crowd in a frenzy as he came onstage and did not disappoint. He kept the crowd well entertained throughout his entire performance.

Jadon Ricketts, despite his very small frame, drummed and delivered. The crowd seemed to like him. When challenged by the Jamaica Observer’s Stacy-Ann Neilson to drum to a dancehall beat, he didn’t back down, but proved himself.

Londy-Kaye Samuels did a dub poem entitled shy. She had very good stage presence. She delivered her piece well and the crowd applauded her performance.

The crowd’s attention was certainly captivated by the duo Tyrone and Mento. Their gimmicks and stage presence was quite noticeable. The crowd “raved” through their entire performance.

The petite singer Shaniel Warren sang a song Time Has Passed. Her frame contradicts her voice because she was quite powerful, despite few glitches in terms of her notes. She tried to give a stellar performance and the crowd showed their appreciation by giving her a loud round of applause.

Dahlia and Judi-Ann came out confident. They had made good use of their stage and interacted well with their audience.

Toni-Ann had a wonderful voice. She sang her original piece, but obviously did not capture the crowd’s attention. They seemed eager for her to be through with her performance.

The controversial Roshauna Bell got a lot of “forward” from her peers with her deejayed piece.

Sparkles, a group of girls, came out and tried their best, but it was clear their best wasn’t good enough. The audience seemed unmoved by their dance performance. However, they were still applauded for their effort.

The only male dancers, Nick Stevens and Renardo Collins, came out dancing to the popular song Buss A Whine, by Mr Vegas.

Hotsteppas was next, a female dance group, were less than impressive.

Little Miguel Banton drummed away entertaining the crowd.

Last contestant of the day, Debra Gayle sang her piece Stronger. She made good use of her stage and was certainly entertaining.

While the judges Danielle Spencer, Burnette Edwards, Tevin Eldemire and Monique Edwards Davis tallied their scores, Digicel Rising Stars 2011 winner Tash wowed the students.

She came out with her melodious voice singing Fly Away. She interacted well with the students, calling on some to either sing to them, or have them dance onstage with her. She even had a mini dance-off during her performance. Tash sang many hits from Super Bass by Nicki Minaj, Jim Screechie by Spice to Kerron Ennis’ Daddy Oh. Tash had the students and teachers of Lewisville in a frenzy.

After her performance, the winners were announced. Tyrone and Mento came first, Ricardo Dennis was second and third was Londy-Kaye Samuels.

Other winners for the day was Monique Williams for the Seprod student drink-off, Mr Patterson for the Seprod teacher drink-off and Sharie Whittaker for the Observer trivia questions.

— Moya Hinds