KINGSTON, Jamaica — Integration Thursdays, the weekly lyme at the University of the West Indies (UWI), kicked off the new school year last Thursday, September 24, at Students’ Union.

This year, the organisers, UWI Guild of Students, have put a new spin on the series by hosting a five-week talent series called King & Queen of Integration, where talented students attending the university will battle each week for a grand prize including cash and other prizes.

Tajay Gardner, of the UWI Guild Cultural and Entertainment Affairs Committee (CEAC) explained the idea behind the talent series.

“So, the competition that we have right now is the Kings and Queens of Integration, and what that means is we present a platform for all student artistes, so that they can develop their craft. The main objective is just to really improve student engagement while developing artistes,” Gardner told Observer Online.

There will be five elimination rounds with two people being eliminated in each round. The remaining two will advance to the grand finale. Winners will be decided by crowd response and a panel of judges.

At last Thursday’s start to the proceedings, nine talented students performed to give their peers a taste of what will come this Thursday, October 2 at Chancellor Hall.

“Well mi just feel like a our time, so I decided to enter the competition. Mi haffi show the world say yow, Splxntak is intact. From my younger days, I have been doing music, and I wrote poems and songs in high school,” said Jalon “Splxntak” Lambert from Taylor Hall, who is studying at the faculty of Humanities and Education.

He said he is hoping to gain exposure from the competition.

Meanwhile, emerging talent Zineil “Flowmatic” Blackwood from Preston Hall wants to use the platform to develop his skills as an artiste.

“Well my main reason for entering is to develop my artiste skills, my vocals, lyrics and capabilities,” the literature and publishing student shared.

Jada-Lee Dawkins, the sole female in the competition who studies social sciences, aspires to become an R&B singer.

“The reason I entered is because my main goal is to become an R&B singer. The exposure would be really good to get myself out there,” she reasoned.

“I always look for opportunities to express my talent, while improving my skills and I saw this competition as an opportunity and decided to try it out,” said Peter Jaun “Kod3” Palmer, a final year social sciences student from Taylor Hall.

Civil Engineering student Kaheil “KJ” Brown wants to use the competition to improve his skill as an artiste.

“I always been interested in writing music and I realised that I had a talent, and I wanted to put it to use. I decided to use this as a vehicle to build something for myself. I also want to learn and improve my skills,” Brown told Observer Online.