Francine Black, Staff Reporter

Cameal Davis

It's the final week for fans to vote for their favourite contestant in the Digicel Rising Stars competition, and the two finalists are not leaving anything to chance in their quest to get the most votes to win.

Cameal Davis said many of her friends and supporters have been spending time and using various avenues to get more people to vote for her. "One of my friends from work, he sent out some text messages via email. I don't know how he got the numbers," she said.

The text message being circulated comes from an email address cameal4rising stars@live.com.

The message reads, 'Vote for the Denham Town princess, Cameal Davis for 2008, Rising Star; text VOTE or call 444-5502. Thanks! Have a fantastic day!'

Patria-Kaye Aarons, public relations manager for Digicel, said the company did not give out the numbers to anyone for them to send the texts messages. She said the sender likely put in some random numbers and got lucky.

Crunch time

"They are choosing random numbers and sending the messages to them .... It's crunch time now, and they know they have to do everything they can to ensure they get the votes they need by Friday," she said.

Davis said that, in addition to the text blasts, there have been parties and collections done to raise funds to purchase credit for voting. She said her supporters have also been going around with boxes collecting money towards buying credit.

Davis has also been a part of the campaign to get more votes, having printed about 500 pins reminding people to vote for her.

Kahlil and their supporters have also been trying to get more votes through similar means. The party dubbed 'Kahlil Wednesdays' was started two weeks ago in an effort to raise money to purchase credit for voting purposes.

Crowd appeal

Kahlil - file photos

Blane Whitefield, a member of the group says Kahlil has also been invited to perform at events in western Jamaica. He says the promoters of these events also encourage the crowd to vote by texting or calling 444-5505.

"We have made a few appearances at some business places where they have voted for us, you know, to show our appreciation," he said.

In addition to that, Whitefield says some of the media in western Jamaica, have also been encouraging people to vote for the group. Whitefield said they did not pay for advertisements in the media in that area, but that Kahlil appreciates the support nonetheless.