The Spotlgiht continues –Nuriyyih judges, LaRose returns, and Delisha Wright blows us away
Nuriyyih Gerrard
Nuriyyih Gerrard

TEN-year-old Asiraf Mohammed and the singer, Lutchman Singh getting the boot; 94.1 BOOM FM’s Nurriyyih Gerrard as a surprise judge; and Delisha Wright blowing the audience away with a spine-tingling performance of Adele’s “One and Only” were just some of the things you missed out on if you did not catch last Wednesday’s episode of E-Networks/Red Entertainment’s talent show, “The Spotlight”.

And that wasn’t even the least of it! Also out of the competition is Ronald Chan Yen, who was the eliminated entry after he ended up on the chopping block for the second time in a row at the end of last Wednesday’s episode.

Asiraf Mohamed 
Asiraf Mohamed 

But enough about who isn’t in the competition anymore; let’s talk more about who is.
WHO’S IN
Apart from Wright; Kimberly Samuels; Wayne Frank, aka ‘Errol T’; Trevaun Selman; the band, “Behold the Jury”; contortionist Robert Wall; and dance groups “Now U C Me” and “Euphoria are all through to the next round of the competition, and will be in next Wednesday’s episode.
But they won’t be alone. We finally found out who that much-anticipated “wildcard” entry went to: None other than the singer, Jamal LaRose, who made his debut performance on the televised series doing a pretty good job of Ceelo Green’s catchy number, “Forget You”!
This rounds the competion out to the final ten acts in the show, and things are about to get even more intense.
Last Wednesday was a night on which a lot of the singers really stood out, and, pardon the pun, took the spotlight.
Apart from Wright and LaRose, Samuels and ‘Errol T’ did really well in their musical numbers, and ‘Behold the Jury’s’ rock band performance was well received.
Not that the night was just about the singers standing out, as Euphoria, in their usual style, continued to step up their game.
Given her preliminary performance at the auditions, anyone could tell that Delisha was a wonderful singer, but up until last Wednesday, it just kept feeling like she was holding back.
Well, she finally stopped holding back and unleashed her inner diva with a challenging Adele number.

OWNED THE NIGHT
Trying to mimic Adele’s contralto vocals is no easy road, making the singer a hard one to cover for anyone. But Delisha totally owned last Wednesday night’s show, with her performance of “One and Only”.
And then there was Kimberly. Though you could hardly tell what she was singing in her high-pitched operatic performance, the unconventional Samuels still managed to amaze.
The sheer melody of her voice and perfect intonation worked to put together a performance that Judge Christian Sobers called “ground-breaking”. As for Judge Alana Seebarran, it was simply perfection.
“Perfection from the beginning to the very last beat,” she said.

Lutchman Singh
Lutchman Singh

“You’re growing so much, you are becoming this world-class opera performance. It was just the entire package; it blew me away,” she added following Samuels’ piece.
Errol ‘T’ continued to show that he is serious competition in this show, despite being the more mature one of the lot. Singing to the “Real Rock” rhythm, ‘Errol T’ put on a performance that saw Gerard calling him “a natural-born entertainer”.
However, Alana still wants to see more, and told ‘Errol T’ that he needs to take it “up a notch”.
Colleague judge, Russell Lancaster couldn’t agree more. “I want to see something fresh,” he said. “So I’m leaving it up to you to amaze me next time around!”

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
Russell also advised on the need for improvement when he critiqued Selman’s performance.
Given how competitive the singers are becoming, he’s really going to need to step his game up; and do it soon, before he ends up on the chopping block.
Nurriyih thought he lacked a certain level of confidence in himself and his music; so, too, did Christian, who noted that he carried himself as “one of those really gifted person who doesn’t even know how good you are.”
Speed painter, Winston Alexander, failed to impress, in much the same way he did in Episode 2, when he did a portrait of famed martial artist, the late Bruce Lee.
This time around, Alexander took his inspiration from sports; football to be exact. He did a portrait of Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo.
The judges thought the execution of the piece was somewhat lacking. Christian commended the end-product, but noted that Alexander needs to make his execution somewhat more entertaining, pointing to his last week’s performance, where he painted to the tune of “Kung Fu Fighting” while also doing a few martial arts moves.

THE ELIMINATIONS

It was heartbreaking to watch young Asiraf go, but no one could argue he was having a hard time keeping up with the other acts.
If only the competition was one based on cuteness, he, perhaps, could’ve won; but unfortunately, it’s a talent competition, and while Asiraf is one talented kid, he still has some way to go in honing his skills.
Nonetheless, Nuriyyih was so bowled over by him that she was moved to come up on stage and hug the youngster.
Making it this far was quite a feat for the Saraswat Primary School pupil; but in a few years, and with the right training, he’s going to be quite a force to reckon with.
Meanwhile, Bollywood singer, Lutchman Singh’s Wednesday’s performance of “Sunn Raha Hai” was definitely a downgrade from his Episode 2 performance, and ultimately resulted in its being the end of the road for him on The Spotlight.
Now down to the final 10, the show continues next Wednesday at the usual time, 20:00hrs, on E-Networks’ Channel E1, as well as the live stream on the “E-Networks: The Spotlight” Facebook page, where, if you like, you can also catch up on Episodes One and Two of the show.

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