By Tamica Garnett

MANY who tuned in for Wednesday night’s premier of locally produced E-Networks/RED Entertainment talent show ‘The Spotlight’ were rightfully blown away by the overall quality of the show as the final 15 talent acts began their last lap in the race for the 2.5 million grand prize up for grabs.Some tuned in at home, others on the live stream, while others kicked back with the production crew and contestants in the electric atmosphere at the viewing party in the packed 704 Sports Bar.

From the get-go, show producers had promised a program that would be “top notch” and “of international standard” but as we know, ‘self-praise is no recommendation’; so there was always some skepticism as to what to expect when the show finally aired.

However, kudos to the production team, because oh my God, did they deliver! It has definitely raised the bar on the standard of talent shows in Guyana. A testament to this came in the form of the many comments from those who saw the show on FB since they just couldn’t believe they were watching a local production.

“Wow!!! This is Guyana??? Love this!!! Where was this? As in the venue? The stage and everything looks very modern,” said Antoinette Skinner. “So proud of my country I’m in awe at the quality of this production,” was how Onika Fox felt, and Steven Shim added “E-Networks Just Raised the bar in production and entertainment in Guyana …Kudos!!!” And the comments just kept rolling in!

Quality over Quantity
With just 15 opening acts, in addition to a soon to be revealed wild card entry, the show really is about quality over quantity. The stage setting was truly commendable and the organisation of it all was well put together.
But enough about the show’s appearance, let’s get down to what this show is really all about: the contestants.

Each act had 90 seconds to put forth a display worthy of getting them through to the next round with the bottom five acts having to compete in another episode where only two will advance to the next round.

Of the 15 acts, there were those who stood out, those who were admittedly nervous, and those who were disappointingly lackluster. However, the judges: Alana Seebarran, Russell Lancaster and Christian Sobers, were liberal when praising those contestants who were able to take past advice and work on their acts. The acts they found not good enough were told to return with improvements.

At the end of the show this week’s bottom five were revealed to be young break dancer, Asiraf Mohammed, singers Shamar Ramsammy, Ronald Chan Yen, Kellon Rover and the band, “Behold the Jury”.

Picking a front runner
If many persons had hopes of picking front runners based on what they saw Wednesday night it would have definitely been difficult. Many of the acts were not their best, including the night’s opening act-singer, Delisha Wright. Wright did not give the premier a good start, understandably though as it was later revealed that she was nursing a sore throat.

Next up was Asraf Mohammed and let’s just say off the bat that Asraf is the cutest thing, and no matter how the cookie crumbles we admire his braveness for not only coming on the show but for making it this far. So you just got to put some respect on it. However that aside, Asraf is rolling with the big boys now and competing for 2.5 million, so figuratively speaking he’ll have to “take it like a man.”

Like a lot of Wednesday night’s acts he could also use a little work. When asked by Khan how he thought he did, the Swarsat Primary student simply replied “not too good” in a disheartened tone.

Bollywood singer Latchman Singh was one of the acts applauded by the judges for showing improvement, when he did a pretty good cover of Sonu Nigam’s very emotional “Kal Ho Naa Ho”.

It was the all-boys dance group Euphoria, who really got things pumping with what was arguably the most entertaining 90 seconds of the show. The flexibility of contortionist Robert Wall was definitely a sight to behold, though watching his bone breaking movements may make some uncomfortable.

The other acts of the night included the show’s second dance group ‘Now U C Me’, musical group ‘Safe’, speed painter Winston Alexander, and singers Kimberly Samuels, Wayne Errol Frank, and Trevaun Selman.

Though if you were thinking it, unless you are a close family member or close friend of a contestant, catching the show live is impossible. Filming is done at a private location prior to the show being aired, and only a few are allowed to be part of the audience.

Despite this, you can catch the weekly airings on Wednesday nights at 8 on E1, or watch the rebroadcasts throughout the week, as well as the videos being posted on Facebook.