Contestants wait to face the judges during the Rising Stars audition at Fayors Entertainment Centre, Mandeville, on Saturday. - Colin Hamilton photo

Andre Jebbinson, Staff Reporter

There comes a moment when one must realise what his or her God-given talent is. It is a pity some contestants at Mandeville's Rising Stars audition on Saturday have not sort that out yet.

When many of the Rising Stars rejects who were shown the door, they conjured up many reasons for their dismissal except for the naked truth; the talent just was not there.

Some were obviously nervous, but when you sound like a dental patient with an exposed nerve, probably singing is not your talent. Also, blaming the judges' hearing ability is normally not a route to take, as many tried to do.

Olga Williams found out that while she might recieve numerous encores at church rallies, the judges were looking for something else. She came dressed as though she was on her way from a church convention, and thought she had made it to the next round. However, at the end of her audition, one judge simply said, "thank you for coming." She was stunned.

"Is because mi sing gospel. I would like to be a star and I know I did well. Dem just bruk mi vibes," she said.

Olga said she would not try out again. We should all breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Ardenne Elliot and a few others said the judges made them nervous. Elliot is 50 years old and has probably had many trials in his life, but to let two judges scare him? Elliot too seemed to have been in denial.

"My family always tell me I can sing and they encourage me to join. I really thought I had a chance of making it," he said.

Furthermore, as judge David Wedderburn pointed, they knew they would have to stand in front of the judges, and they should have been prepared.

Ok, so the previous reasons were not convincing, but when one female contestant blamed it on her shoes, that made the others look like they gave the best excuse in the book.

The judge at first complimented her on appearance by saying she came dressed the part, but according to this contestant, the 'spike heels' had her in agony.

Some contestants however might have decided their own fate when they failed to follow one simple request. A few of them came with original songs and when the judges asked for a popular song, they refused.

"To be honest sir, I only do originals," one guy said.

"Well you would not do well in this competition then," the judge replied.

"I only came prepared with one song," was the response of another contestant.

This should be a lesson to aspiring Rising Stars. It is always good to be prepared for any demands the judges might make. The ability to hold a note is also an asset for the competition.