IT was impossible to pin-point a single star performer on night two of the Soul in the Sun music festival in Montego Bay on Saturday night. Every performer brought his ‘A-Game’ to the stage at the Aqueduct in Rose Hall.

In front of a much-improved audience turn-out compared to night one, each artiste stepped up to the microphone and delivered a show-stopping performance.

The star performances began with local act Richie Stephens, the former cabaret performer who dropped a string of original love songs for openers. By Your Side, Everytime You’re There, and Take Me Away, set the tone for what was to come. A gospel medley would have the audience on its feet singing, dancing and clapping, but the real excitement of the performance was yet to come.

Backed by a cadre of top flight Jamaican musicians, Stephens set would explode with a burst of dancers to demonstrate his latest project Ska Tech – an amalgam of ska and electronic dance music. With the track Everybody Dance, Stephens and his dancers electrified the stage with energy and colour.

The lone female on the bill, Regina Belle would bring tones of vocal power to her set from the second she stepped on the stage with her early hit Show Me. This was followed by a spiced-up version of So Many Tears, to which she danced up a storm to the sexy salsa rhythm. Sade’s Cherish the Day, This is Love, emotionally charged renditions of Dream in Colour and Make it Like it Was.

The stakes rose when Peabo Bryson appeared for their popular A Whole New World, the duet from the animated feature Aladdin. This was tender, and touching and saw the twosome break out into a delicate waltz during the musical bridge. She would wrap her set with Baby Come to Me.

It was then time for the men of soul.

Howard Hewett, Freddie Jackson, Peabo Bryson and Jeffrey Osborne only continued what the openers had started, satiating the audience with great vocals, timeless music and a string of hit songs.

Hewett — the former front man for the 1970 to ’80s trio Shalamar, which also included R&B singer Jody Watley — was first. His stirring vocals showed no signs of waning with the years and he sounded just as clean and fresh as he did during his early years.

Although the audience took some time to warm up to him, by the time he dropped For the Lover in You he had them, and when he closed with Say Amen, he had sealed the deal with an audience standing and waving in appreciation.

Jackson could do no wrong and by the time he completed his 45-minute set he had the mostly female audience inside the Rose Hall venue screaming for more.

This was due to his impeccable vocals and endearing showmanship on Nice and Slow, Love Somebody, Tasty Love, the ever- popular All I ever Ask , before closing with You Are My Lady and Rock Me Tonight. He added a reggae element to the final track which just made him more popular with the Jamaican audience.

He cleared the way for Bryson who made his way to centrestage at 1:00 am.

The amazing tenor wasted no time dropping the hit If Ever You’re in My Arms Again. The hits would keep rolling and so did the screams of appreciation from the ladies. Tonight I Celebrate, originally done with Roberta Flack was delivered with backing vocalist Crystal Whyte to great effect. He then dropped So Into you, Show and Tell, Can You Stop the Rain, Feel the Fire, and then upped the tempo with Ain’t Nobody, the track made popular by Chaka Khan.

The audience was going nowhere and at 1:45 am the man many came out to see, Jeffrey Osborne, began with All The Way.

With vocals belying his 66 years, Osborne sang and charmed the Soul In the Sun audience with On the Wings of Love, Stay With Me Tonight, the Jamaican favourite Shine On, went over well. The deal was sealed when he dropped The Woo Woo Song. As customary, he ventured into the audience and had individuals “Woo Woo”. This interactive element was appreciated, provided moments of comic relief and proved to be a great way to bring down the curtains.

Junior Taylor, executive producer of the festival, was pleased with the level of performances of the two nights, but has some elements to sort out regarding future stagings.

“What took place on stage was great. I am pleased with the technical aspects of the festival, including light stage and sound, but during our post mortem we will have to look into how we get more persons into the venue to witness what took place here for the past two nights,” Taylor told the Jamaica Observer.