They say success is 70% attitude and 30% knowledge. Well this was certainly the case of the Digicel's Rising Star top four winners. They entered a talent competition without any prior knowledge or experience, only a determination that propelled them to the top. The competitions have closed and now they can kick back in the after glow of their hard work and determination. To those unsuccessful contestants, there's always next year or other talent competitions.
Fortunately for the chosen four, there is a banquet of rewards now available. Candy the forth place winner will be delivering some of her hardcore lyrics at Sting 2k4, Cavan who won for himself a recording contract with Gee Jam Studio, has his first single and video 'Pain' on the air waves, while Diana and Renee do promotional work for Digicel.
They have come a long way, especially my favorite Diana Rutherford who wooed both myself and Jamaica with her rendition of Barbara Streisand's 'Left In The Dark'. The rendition earned her the top position, in total votes for a week, breaking the winning streak that favored Cavan.
Like Cavan and Renee, Diana was also disqualified from the early rounds of the competition, she returned when Anthony Miller, 'the hardest judge to please', named her his 'Wild Card'.
She gracefully rocketed to diva status, with her sultry renditions of Bob Marley's 'Natural Mystic', Diana King's 'Shy Guy' and Tamia's 'Stranger In My House'. The diva continued until she was finally eliminated as the second runner up.
Fortunately the management committee of the Digicel's Rising Star decided to keep the top four for development and promotion both nationally and internationally. The sultry Diva has now released an official single entitled 'It's Official' on the 'Singles Collection Vol. 1'; a group effort from the top four launched at Cuddyz Sports Bar on November 18, 2004.
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| Rising Stars Arriving At Cuddyz |
When RT caught up with Diana at the album launch at Cuddyz she expressed how happy she was with the competition results even though she wasn't the top winner. " I'm at a lost for words, but I am happy, truly happy, that's all I can say for now" said a smiling Diana.
Well 'It's Official', she's certainly not 'Left In The Dark', instead Diana is in fact a 'Natural Mystic' who holds great promise for the future.
