As expected, the turnout for the Ocho Rios leg of the Tastee Talent Trail 2009, turned out to be the biggest yet in terms of crowd support.

From as early as 7 a.m. last Saturday, there was a build-up of persons in and around the Island Village complex in Ocho Rios.

By the time registration began at 9 a.m., there was a massive crowd on hand and the flow continued right through to the end of registration which had to be extended beyond the original 3 p.m. cut-off time.

virgin area

According to Abe Baracatt, head of productions, "This is a strong showing given that it's a virgin area for the Trail. We move into another new area next month when we hit Port Antonio and we are hoping for the same response."

Pre-judges Courtney Sergeant and Bagga Case rejected close to 100 persons. However, they sent 105 through to the final judges, Audrey Reid, Michael Edwards and Basil Walters.

At the end of the day's audition, eight persons were selected from the gold-card recipients to move on to the semi-finals.

These are: Steve Watkins, Krishan Beckford, Aba Jones, Eddy Aspilaire, Nicola Gayle, Jermain Burford, Samantha Tobias and the singing group Secret Melodies.

These persons will join the 16 others selected from Portmore and May Pen in one of two semi-finals, hoping to move on to the grand finals in December.