KINGSTON, Jamaica — Following an elimination exercise last Thursday, only six competitors remain in the inaugural Integration King & Queen competition.

The talent series hosted by the Guild of Students at the University of the West Indies seeks to highlight talent within the campus.

The competitors were judged by a panel comprising experienced music industry professionals Makiri Whyte (producer and musician) and Jermaine “Tu Finga’ Parchment, a Billboard charting producer. They gave the competitors advice and guidance in navigating their way throughout the competition, while critiquing their performances.

The night started out with each competitor performing to a large number of students at George Allyne Hall.

Jada Lee Dawkins, a freshman performed a creditable take on the Alicia Keys hit If I Ain’t Got You, while Science and Technology student and Irvine Hall resident Jaydar ‘Newzene’ Mitchell rapped a love song which he said was inspired by a past relationship. His performance earned him the biggest response of the night.

“Lyricism has been my specialty since I was in high school, so I chose to rap and I’m not surprised at the response that I got from the crowd,” Mitchell, a former Decarteret College alum, told Observer Online.

Peter-Jaun ‘Kod3’ Palmer, Ryel Jones and Zineil ‘Pablo’ Blackwood, a humanities and education student, gave a good account of themselves.

Kaheil ‘KJ’ Brown who is studying engineering and Eladio ‘Volture’ Coltas were both eliminated from the competition based on a culmination of judges’ comments and crowd response.

Brown said the journey was a good one.

“So far it was really good, and the journey has been a learning opportunity. Seeing everyone’s level of skill and talent and realizing that there’s a next level to reach, I know I have to work harder to get to that point,” Brown told Observer Online.

He added, “I need to be more confident in my delivery and to be confident on stage and connect with the people.”

UWI’s King and Queen of Integration competition resumes on Thursday October 23.

Kaheil ‘KJ’ Brown

Zineil ‘Flomatic’ Blackwood

Elado ‘Volture’ Coltas

Jalon ‘Splxntak’ Lambert