Sadeke Brooks, STAR Writer

Magnum King and Queens of the Dancehall judge and producer Cordel 'Scatta' Burrell. - Contributed

It was either a case of excellent or horrible pieces at the Portmore audition for Magnum Kings and Queens of the Dancehall.

As expected, the judges chose the better princes and princesses who auditioned to add to the four who were selected from the Ocho Rios audition. D.J. and Medallion were the chosen princes while Tellah and Empress Lyrics were the princesses.

The judges were faced with a serious case of boredom and were especially grateful for Glamity and Konscious who were able to nudge them out of it. It even reached the point where one of the judges, Miss Kitty, begged an old man to consider art.

Glamity was not the best lyricist as she merely did her own version of Erup's Run Dem Head but she did it in an exciting manner. Despite not being successful in Rising Stars, Konscious, tried their hands at this competition but with a different name. The group was one of the best to audition in the Portmore leg and the judges were pleased with their performance.

Both Kaye and Lushus previously entered Rising Stars. Kaye was not successful this time around either, as she was inaudible to the judges but Miss Kitty said she recognised her ability to sing. Lushus seemed to have had better luck in this competition as she managed to garner a position as one of the princesses to advance past the first round.

The females who entered were generally good with a few exceptions and the judges seem pleased with their performances so far.

"The females stepped up. Some of them are doing some things that are still whack but some of them impressed me," said Miss Kitty.

Many contestants strayed away from violent lyrics and were more concerned with presenting safe sex messages while others tried to promote their dance moves such as the 'Skilly Bop'.

The main challenge the judges experienced were inaudible and unoriginal lyrics. Several contestants also tried too hard to copy the style of other popular dancehall artistes.

Despite the shortcomings of the competition, the judges still have high expectations. "Portmore has a lot of talent and it is getting harder to judge," commented judge, Scatta Burrell.