Entertainment

It's just dancing

Members of the group Voice Mail, from left Craig, Kevin and Oneil perform at Summer Breezes: The Barefoot Beach Party at the 2005 ATI weekend in Negril. - claudine housen

FAST RISING GROUP Voice Mail have been credited, along with other dancehall acts such as Elephant Man and the late dancer Bogle, for reviving and carrying a new wave of dancing to the music.

A vibe

Oniel, one of the members of the group, explains that their sojourn into dance music was not intentional. "It's just a vibe. A producer just connect us with Bogle and Delly Ranks and the people like it," he said. We did a follow up and they like it too." Mega hits Weh Di Time and Ready to Party were the result of those collaborations.

"Voice Mail is a young group and we cater to a wide cross section," Oniel said, explaining the group's popularity.

Part of the music

"At the end of the day, singing comes with performing," he said noting famous performers like Michael Jackson, Janet and Beyoncé. "Dancing has always been a part of music."

Though Voice Mail adds some stage performance to their set, Oniel says that not every performer has to dance. "To each his own," he says. "We can't impose the fact that we perform on stage on people," he said, noting that consummate performers like Beres Hammond and Morgan Heritage are not dancers.

"Its just what we like. We feel seh we haffi perform and the people dem like that. As long as di people dem happy that's good," he said.

Fans of Voice Mail will get a special treat this month. THE STAR's Artiste of the month will give two lucky ladies a chance to date two members of the group. Call the Star and register to be one of the two lucky women.

Plus, The Star and Voice Mail are calling all dancers to participate in a dance-off, which the dance-off will be judged by the group and members of THE STAR team.

Contestants will be judged on creativity, style, presentation and execution. Special prizes await the dancer or group judged the winner.

To register, call The Star at 1-888-843-7827 between 4 and 5 p.m. today.