FILE
LEFT: Nickeisha Barnes onstage at the Juici Food & Culture Festival held at Clarendon Park, Clarendon, on Sunday, November 26. CENTRE: One Third wooing the audience at the Nyammins and Jammins Festival 2006 at Catherine Hall, Montego Bay, on Monday, October 16. RIGHT: Bushy One String performs at one of the Digicel 'Rising Stars' live shows held in the TVJ studios.

Kavelle Anglin-Christie, Staff Reporter

Star light, star bright,
first star I see tonight.
I wish I may, I wish I might,
have the wish, I wish tonight.

We'll make a wish, and do as dreamers do,
And all our wishes (all our wishes),
Will come true.

They started with a simple wish, but only time could tell if this year's Rising Stars would be shooting stars instead.

Still they continue to rise, saying they refuse to live in the shadow of the competition.

As such, they have come to rival the mainstream success of last year's winner and runner-up, Christopher Martin and Noddy Virtue, respectively.

Although winning a contract doesn't guarantee mainstream success, the winners of this year's competition, One Third, seem to be making use of their contract with Shocking Vibes.

Promoting singles

Alpheus (Al) Johnson, a member of the group, says apart from shows, they have been busy promoting their five new singles, Candle Light, True Love, The Call, Fatee and Sensimena.

He says some of the songs have been getting heavy rotation on radio and, as such, he thinks people have accepted them as artistes and not just past competition winners.

Oh, a world of wishes.

A world where dreams come true.

So make a wish, see it through. Dare to do what dreamers do.

Taking the step into stardom means leaving more than one thing behind, including your job.

Al says after winning the competition, he had to leave his job of five years at the Greater Portmore Library "Even if I didn't want to. The perception of being a public figure and people always coming there to see me was a problem. Also, to remain a public figure, you can't always make yourself available; you need to make yourself a bit scarce sometimes. That would not have been fair to the people coming there for help and it would not have been fair to the Library Service, so I decided to leave."

Second-place Nickeisha Barnes has been busy performing, much to the delight of her fans. Also, since the competition, she has caught the eye of Penthouse Music.

Unofficially working

"I'm unofficially working with them (Penthouse). They are interested in me and I'm interested in working with them and so far I have recorded four songs," said Barnes.

"No, I don't have any complaints because before I entered Rising Stars I had material, but there I got the exposure. Before the competition, there were a lot of people and producers that I wanted to connect with but couldn't. So now, the impetus, or onus, is on me to go out and make it work with a few original pieces," she said.

We're all just children, reaching for our dreams.

There shining high above us, and even though it seems, so far (so far).

We put our faith and hope on a shooting star.

In a year, she said "I want to have a solid management and booking agency like Headline. I want to have sensible and talented people who know who I am and know what I want to achieve. I also want to have a number one song on the Jamaican charts and hopefully, a crossover to the American and European charts. I want to step away, or rather move to the next level, from Rising Stars."

At the moment, Barnes still has her job at the Ministry of Health and says it is hectic to balance music and her 9-5.

"It's a struggle sometimes because it's my job and I have to give it 100 per cent and sometimes it's taxing to balance it with music because I also have to be dedicated to it," she said.

Another finalist, Brushy One String, continues to build his career, though he remains unsigned because he is looking for the right team. "I just finished up some songs that I'm planning to release next year," he said. Among them is Boom Bang Beng, already popular through performance.

He says he is grateful for the competition because "it did a great thing about reminding people that I am around and will continue to be around. For those who didn't know me before Rising Stars and only saw me in the competition, they will always see me as a Rising Stars contestant. For those who knew me before will always see me as a star."