Noranda talent parade ends on high note
JOEL Wray, a young singer from Liberty Hill in St Ann, delivered an outstanding performance to bring down the curtains and win the first prize in the 2014 Noranda Bauxite Community Council Talent Parade series.
Wray’s original lyrics and captivating dance moves at each stage of the six-week series was enough to earn him the $75,000 award and keep him stepping ahead of the other 18 contestants who entered the annual community show staged by the council at the Port Rhoades Sports Club in Discovery Bay.
His final performance had the audience of over 2,000 cheering as he wowed his way to first place ahead of Lamar Blake of Farm Town, with Carl Gayle, also of Farm Town, a close third.
The weekly Thursday night concerts, which ended last month, were organised by the Noranda Community Council and coordinated by entertainment professional Seymour Green with the objective of encouraging and developing career talents and recreational opportunities in Noranda’s operational areas in Western St Ann.
Performers drawn from local communities were well received and supported by their respective communities.
Noranda’s Personnel Manager Nathan Thompson is full of praise for the amateur artistes who have written or copied items in gospel, reggae, soul, soca and dancehall to win over the audiences.
“The performances have been of a high quality and have caught the attention of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) as well as private sector sponsors,” he said.
Sponsors included Noranda Bauxite, Jamaica National, Tankweld, Discovery Bay Premiere Supercentre, Total Supermarket, Right Choice Electronics, DAFA Wholesale, Taste the Tropics, Caribbean Style Sea Food, and St Ann North-West Member of Parliament Dr Dayton Campbell, who donated the third prize.
The Most Improved Contestant was Claudette Ferrigan while the Best Group and Best Outfit prize went to One-Ten, and the Best Original Lyrics prize to Anthony Smith.
The judges’ panel included JCDC adjudicators Mark Brown and Marjorie McIntosh, and musicologist Maurice Bryson.
