Sutherland: The publicity helped me a lot
Leighton Williams, Staff Reporter
THERE WAS a time when the winner of a local talent show was a step away from stardom. In a short while stardom would be achieved since the individual would find him or herself becoming a household name in no time.
However, that was aeons ago, when the 'Vere Johns Opportunity Hour' beckoned and, later, when the Tastee Talent Contest was king and the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) Popular Song contest held its own. Now, the top talent of either contest has to toe the white line with everybody else in the race for exposure.
"I think is how the business set up why yuh nuh find more Tastee winners coming through to become big stars," said 'singjay' Mr. Vegas. He continued: "Not everybody is willing to voice a young artiste."
Like Beenie Man who entered in 1981, Nadine Sutherland who won in 1979, Yellowman who entered in 1979 and other popular entertainers, Mr. Vegas was an entrant in the Tastee Talent Competition. He placed third in 1994 as a singer with a cover of a song called Old Friends.
Ask Mr. Vegas about how the Tastee Talent Contest helped him and he will be the first to tell you with some amount of enthusiasm that "the contest introduced me to the first hardcore crowd. I was an upcoming artiste who chose to enter the contest to get recognition. From you can please the crowd then you know you are on your way to being a good performer and also to 'buss out'."
In a previous report in The Star dated December 6, 2001, the deejay, who has hits such as Heads High and Sucky Ducky to his credit, said that the Tastee Talent Contest also helped to build his confidence.
PUBLICITY HELPED ME
Songbird Nadine Sutherland agrees that Tastee gave a talent good exposure. She said after winning, persons would see her on the road and readily identify her as the winner of the contest.
"Maybe when I won there was not much distraction. Everyone looked out for the winner. I doubt if that time talent shows were the 'in thing' or I was lucky, but the publicity I got from there helped me a lot," she said.
However, the contest that also exposed ARP to Jamaica and the world appears to have lost its secret ingredient for sniffing out talent. Yet the organisers disagree.
"I don't think that is the case. It depends on how aggressively the winners market themselves. We don't tie them to any contract. Our job is to expose them. Producers are usually there (in the audience at semi-finals and finals) and they take the people who they see with potential and record them," said Mrs. Lois Grant, the head of Corporate Image, organisers of the Tastee Talent competition.
IS THERE ENOUGH HELP?
However, at least one winner thinks Tastee could do more. At least for the finalists.
"After entering Tastee, the organisers should put out the songs in the finals if they are not doing it already. Usually, the song you win with is not used again," said Nashea 'Pickney' Walters, who placed second in 2002.
However, the organisers point out they do lend a helping hand. "Sometimes people come to us and ask us for young talent and we recommend them. They enter the contest free and we do not tie them or anything like that," she said.
LONG HISTORY
The Tastee Talent Contest has been around for 24 years. The whole concept came from Sonny Bradshaw, who did lunch-hour concerts to expose musicians. The lunch-hour concerts soon evolved into an event that featured one or two new acts. From there it featured a talent contest with upcoming artistes.
The competition has three eliminations held throughout the year. From the eliminations, 25 persons are chosen to enter a semi-final. The top four contestants in the semi-finals move on to the grand finals in December.
The eventual winner of the Tastee Talent Contest gets cash prizes, supplies, a certificate, a summer course at the University of Technology and a scholarship to the Edna Manley School for the Visual and Performing Arts. In addition, there is a six-month internship with Fab Five. The best gospel contestant also earns a one-year scholarship to Sandra Brooks' Gospel School.
LOTS OF SUCCESSES
It is not known how many go on to become professional entertainers after this. However, Tastee is not the only competition that has whetted the appetites of talented Jamaicans. The Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) Popular Song contest has churned out its fair share of household names in fact, maybe more than Tastee, with persons like Toots Hibbert, Tinga Stewart, Eric Donaldson, Stanley Beckford (of Stanley and the Turbines fame), Derrick Morgan, Desmond Dekker, Tommy Cowan and a host of others coming through the ranks.
Toots Hibbert has since gone on to become an international ska star after winning the competition with Bam Bam. Tinga Stewart scored several hits in the 1980s in tandem with Ninja Man. Among them were Take Time To Know Her and Cover Me. Derrick Morgan still commands respect on the local scene for his ska hits, including the seminal Forward March, while Eric Donaldson (Cherry Oh Baby) and Stanley Beckford (Leave My Kisilo) have enjoyed great local recognition, with Donaldson being very popular in many parts of the overseas market.
LITTLE EXPOSURE FROM
POPULAR SONG CONTEST
The JCDC Popular Song Contest began in 1966, four years after Independence. The competition has moved in the direction of the JCDC's mandate to unearth and expose talent. Like the Tastee Talent Contest, the winners take home a cash incentive as well as other prizes.
Devon Black, who won the JCDC Popular Song Contest in 2002 with Progress, said that the competition gave him exposure. Yet he admits that moving on to local stardom has not been easy.
"It's nice winning the competition and getting exposure. But after that is has been difficult in terms of getting recognition," said Devon Black.
Like Tastee, the JCDC is not a booking agent. While the JCDC has an entrance fee for some of its competitions, the organisers do not guarantee that the eventual winner will go on to becoming an international star.
"Our mandate is to unearth and expose talent and give them the opportunity to be seen by producers who usually work with them when they record the songs. We don't manage the finalists," said the national co-ordinator for the Popular Song Contest, Michael Nicholson.
PRODUCING FEW STARS
Although not being a booking agent, the JCDC has for the last couple of years put out all 10 entries annually on a CD compilation. In addition, for example, last year all the finalists were given the opportunity to work with top-flight producers all over the country.
In days of yore, the JCDC would supply each entry to the radio stations. Mr. Nicholson also gave an explanation as to why the Popular Song Contest has failed to produce any stars in the last 10 to 15 years.
"We are competing against the greater market. We are pushing 10 songs, while the average person is doing only one song. Back in the day there were two radio stations and fewer persons recording. These days there are more persons recording, so it's harder for us since we are working with 10 people," he said.
However, not all talent contests and searches see the entrants falling by the wayside. At least one is seeking to work with contestants even after the event is over.
Unlike the entrants in the JCDC Popular Song contest, the JCDC Gospel contest has consistently churned out its fair share of stars. Among them are Glacia Robinson, Shane Wright, Lester Lewis and George Gordon. The competition started in 1987 and it also unearths and exposes talent. However, the difference is that the contestant does God's work.
The organisers were quick to point out that a part of the reason for the competition's success is its popularity with the Christian community. In the case of the other talent show called 'Ready Fi Bus', which was recently aired on SAUCE cable community channel, the 32 contestants are being pushed by Louise Frazer-Bennett. For her, it is a case of keeping the youths out of trouble. In addition, she has gone about getting gigs and organising workshops for her artistes.
GIVE TALENT A CHANCE
The artistes point out that prior to meeting Frazer-Bennett, they had found the going rough in terms of getting exposure, but now they have more hope.
"Some producers work with us. Before we used to go to studio and producers would ignore us. I think we are getting some amount of exposure from this," said upcoming artiste Black Knight.
Producer Jack Scorpio points out that young talent should be given a chance whether or not they are in a talent show or not. He dismissed claims that producers were only concerned with established acts.
At the end of the day, Devon Black believes that it is airplay that will determine whether or not more stars come from talent shows. "It's like a joke when you enter the competitions and they give you the exposure. But the exposure we as young talent expect from the airplay we don't get and I think we should be more," he said.
