The Theatre Place in New Kingston came alive as the teenAGE Expression Tours for 2014 came to an end on Friday, May 2. The grand finale saw a total of 16 competitors from various schools facing off for the title of Jamaica’s most talented teen.

Prior to the show, students were busy capturing the moment in the Flow Instant Photo booth, feasting on the lunch provided by Tastee, all while enjoying the refreshing Cool Fruit drinks, offered by Seprod.

The judging panel was occupied by five adjudicators — dancehall artiste Chino, gospel artiste Jermaine Edwards, dancer Kimron, and

representatives from the sponsors. The show was hosted by Kruddy, who ensured that the audience remained calm when required, and very entertained and participative in other instances.

The first performer of the day was Ovasha Bartley of Camperdown High, clad in her uniform, with her original musical piece entitled School Medz. Her performance was well-received by the audience, which erupted with applause as she exited the stage.

With the bar placed so high by the first performer, Nicholand Wolfe of Spanish Town High School entered the stage with a task cut out for him. He rose to the occasion, and delivered his DJ piece Got Shot with astounding clarity.

Next on stage were the representatives from Ewarton High School, hailing from the hills of St Catherine. Voice of the Ghetto was the name of their piece, and they performed exceptionally well, making good use of the stage and their vocal abilities. Their facial expressions and creative costumes were appreciated by the audience, who could be seen rocking along to the beat of the drum.

After the first three performances, a break was taken to allow the members of the audience to express themselves in the Flow Karaoke Face-Off.

After listening to two young ladies of Dinthill Technical belting the lyrics of Celine Dion’s I’m your Lady, a boy/girl duo performing Chris Brown and Jordin Sparks’ No Air, the winners were decided to be Chadique Young and Kevoy Taylor of The Mannings School, who performed Miguel’s Adorn, in a battle of vocal qualities. Chadique came out victorious over his schoolmate, and he walked away with a pair of Beats by Dr Dre headphones.

The performances then resumed with the dance trio from Dinthil Technical High, Dance Revolution. These boys treated the audience to a series of well-choreographed break-dance moves and gimmicks, to a number of popular R&B songs. Their endurance level was very high, as they surprised audience with a rather lengthy set.

Trisannia Broughton of Edith Dalton James High was next, and she was greeted by expectant silence for her drama presentation and dub poem called Beggar’s Delight. Dressed colourfully as a beggar, she thrilled the audience with her dramatic display of how this seemingly poverty-stricken person was making quite a decent living on the streets.

Trisannia was succeeded by the HQ Dancers of Dunoon Technical High School. The group consisted of four boys, all very talented, and they executed well-rehearsed robotic and pop moves to hip hop and dancehall rhythms.

Edwin Allen High’s Sereika Williams was next on stage with her original dub poem Di Fucha Look Bleak. Her performance brought a sombre mood to the crowd, as her piece was about tragedy by violence in the ghetto. Her character highlighted that even though the future looks bleak, education — not violence — was what her peers should pursue.

Next up was the young man from DeCarteret College, Demoy Coke. The audience listened keenly to his carefully structured lyrics as he touched on various topics concerning the youth.

Winston James of The Mannings School was the next performer on stage. His comedic performance entitled Grandpa Wisdom proved to be very entertaining and held the audience’s attention from start to finish. His costuming was on point, characterised as an elderly man speaking to his grandson about his youthful days. Loud cheers could be heard from the audience who undoubtedly enjoyed his performance.

The entertaining performances continued as McGrath High School made their way onto the stage. The large group, called Straight Up, delivered their piece Justice with high energy, good voice projection, as they spoke out against the issues of violence and police brutality.

Buff Bay High School’s DJ duo Rhadre Ormsby and Shabar Dixon had a powerful message.

They reinforced the idea that Education a di Key. It was a very lively performance and the audience reacted well.

They were followed by the New Legends Dancers from Eltham High School. Their energyfilled performance saw them gyrating to various dancehall and soca songs. They surely got the audience on the edge of their seats and not blinking, out of fear of missing a move.

As the performances wound down, Sewyane Smith of Holland High School entered the stage to do his DJ mix.

Yallahs High’s Tomi-An Hyatt delivered an entertaining dub poem about a reserved school girl who rushed into premature sexual activity and wound up pregnant with an absentee father. Her piece Skoolaz was well-received.

The deejay duo of Lewisville High School was quite dramatic and energetic. Dressed in matching plaid shirts, they spoke of School Girls.

The final competitors of the day were none other than Di Krew of Claude McKay High School. Their costumes and talent piece raised a lot of eyebrows as they were, interestingly, mad men wearing Jacket and Tie. Their piece was hilarious, and they were cheered heartily by the audience.

As the judges were left to deliberate, the audience was then treated to a performance by the BEAM dancers, who displayed their mad skills to rhythms such as Bumaye, Selfie, and other energetic hip hop beats.

Recording Gospel artiste Omari was also in the building, and he performed a number of his hits including Help, Jehovah Guide Me and Why. He also roused the audience with a number of revival based songs, which had the students singing and dancing along.

Sectional prizes were then awarded. These were presented by Stacey-Ann Neilson of the Jamaica Observer.

The prize for “Highest teenAGE Distribution” was awarded to Eltham High School. “Best Tour Experience” was won by The Mannings School, and Voice of the Ghetto of Ewarton walked away with the prize for “Most Creative Piece”.

A special prize was awarded to Sashann James of DeCarteret College, for being helpful earlier that day, and lending a hand to the production team. She was surprised as she collected her prize.

The theatre erupted into screams, shouts and claps as Chan Dizzy was called on stage. He did not fail to please them, as he rocked the crowd with some of his top tracks, including Hello Badmind, Strange Face and Loyalty fi Loyalty.

Chino followed and closed the show in fine style. At this point, the crowd was on their feet as they helped him to perform his set. They belted the lyrics of From Morning, If me Rich Tomorrow, Protected, and many more of his hit songs.

With the audience in such a jubilant mood, the winners of the competition were to be announced. They quickly settled down, as everyone was eager to hear the winner, being hopeful that it was their school.

The third place winner was Ovasha Bartley of Camperdown, and the first runner-up was decide to be Nicholand Wolfe of Spanish Town High.

The audience finally released their breaths as the winner of this year’s staging of the teenAGE Expression Tour was announced to be the brother/sister duo of Ewarton High with Voice of the Ghetto. Everone applauded them as their victory was welldeserved, and the experience was truly a remarkable one for all.

And so it was that the show was closed, after months of venturing to various institutions across the island, this year’s winner was selected. Of course, the experience could not have been the resounding success it was without our generous sponsors: Flow Jamaica, Tastee Restaurant Ltd, AAMM, Cool Fruit by Seprod, Study Centre, and the Jamaica Observer. Thank you.