KINGSTON, Jamaica — Tessanne Chin, winner of NBC’s season 5 of The Voice competition, on her first visit to Canada managed to raise C$40,000 for a ‘worthy cause’ with an impromptu three-song performance.

Chin’s appearance spurred a bidding war between Jamaican/Canadian philanthropists Michael Lee-Chin and Raymond Chang while she was being honoured recently by the University of the West Indies (UWI) at a fundraising banquet at the Ritz Carlton in Toronto.

The Toronto Star reported that the star was not scheduled to sing at the UWI function. But some spur-of-the-moment bidding at the end of the evening generated excitement for her fans.

Lee-Chin and Chang reportedly got into the impromptu bidding war to persuade Chin to sing, with the bidding starting at $1000 by auctioneer Gordon Cressy.

The report said the bidding seemed to stall briefly at the $4,000 mark after which Cressy then asked Lee-Chin why he wasn’t joining in.

The billionaire reportedly responded “It’s too low,” before bidding $10,000 for Chin to sing just one song.

Chang, who was the patron of the ball, reportedly matched Lee-Chin’s amount, adding that Chin should consent to singing a second song.

“This was topped by Lee-Chin who offered another $20,000 if Chin would sing a third song, for a total of $40,000. For the record, that’s $13,333 per song,” The Toronto Star reported. 

Chin obliged, saying, “I hope you don’t mind if I sing acappella”. 

The report said Chin started out by singing her version of ‘Bridge over Troubled Water’, before going into Bob Marley’s ‘Redemption Song’ and then her own 2007 hit ‘Hideaway’. 

The proceeds from the C$2000 a ticket event will go to UWI scholarships, according to the Toronto Star report.

The report added that Chin is to perform in Toronto on May 17 for a concert at the Sony Centre.