Joel Wray ‘Blade’ from Liberty Hill walked away the winner of the 2014 Noranda Talent Competition on Thursday, June 12. The Sports Complex in Discovery Bay, St Ann had an overflow of magnificent talents at the annual finals. The concert started off with a few performances from Camperdown Primary School performing a dance piece entitled ‘With a carnival fiesta’ after which a past contestant Chenelle Black did her song entitled ‘Beneath Your Beautiful’. A very large crowd turned out to support their favorite contestants in the highly competitive competition. The eliminations were staged over several weeks, with contestants from several communities in the Noranda mining area and Discovery Bay area. Emcee for the evening’s function was Seymour Green. The finalists — Blade, Little Blue, Promisin, Claudette, Lamar Blake and One Ten Family — performed in categories such as gospel, dancehall, and covered songs. The first segment contestants had to perform original pieces on the theme ‘Crime and Violence’. It was a thrilling night filled with different forms of entertainment. Judges Mark Brown, Marjorie McIntosh and Michelle Edwards had a hard decision as they saw great talents being poured out on stage. Joel walked away with the top prize of $75,000 The first place winner not only wowed the audience but impressed judges with his talent piece called ‘Pure sitten’ during the first segment and then ‘Angola’ after the intermission. Lamar Blake of Farm Town copped the second place position and walked away with cash prize of $50,000 provided by Taste the Tropics. In Third place Carl Gayle from Bethel Town received $35,000 provided by North West St Ann MP, Dr. Dayton Campbell. Superintendent of Noranda Bauxite Partners, Kent Skyers did the vote of thanks and thanked all for participating in this year’s talent competition. The show ended on a high note with all looking forward to next year’s talent show, where it is expected to be bigger and better as the Noranda community helps in the development of young people.
