A PRODUCT of teenage love with all its steamy intensity and magical enchantment, the road to popularity for the iconic Lisa Mary Johanna Punch started with her winning the Star Guyana competition in 2006/2007, when she belted out the Whitney Houston version of the evergreen ballad “I’ll always Love you.”

She became the ‘sweetheart’ of many, even as she went on to graduate from North Georgetown Secondary School as a student of excellence in 2009. She thereafter studied Communication and Law at the Bishop’s High School in 2010, before she ultimately got into the media, her first experience coming as a co-host of the ‘Hard Vibes’ all girls talk show on Channel 2.

She worked as a full-time announcer at the National Communications Network (NCN) from 2011 to 2013, and also did some airtime at Hits and Jams Radio. All along, she was singing and recording music with Brutal Traxx Studios and then DP Records.

She made appearances on practically every stage and at almost every major as well as minor forum, doing what she loves most and does best –singing. Small wonder, then, that her voice was the chosen one to deliver the CARIFESTA Theme Song when her native Guyana last hosted that regional mega-event.

Lisa Punch is undoubtedly an outstanding Guyanese. She has travelled the proverbial road, and has had many ups and down as her family struggled to make ends meet; but she has always managed to flash a bombshell smile that has invariably turned the sad world right side up for many despairing persons.

Lisa has produced quite a few songs, among which are ‘Secret admirer’ and ‘One last cry’; but her tribute to her mum, aka ‘Oh mamma’, is the tear-jerker for many. It is timeless, and still causes goose bumps as it pulls at the heart strings of many.

Lisa is a go-getter who, after migrating to the USA from a cramped apartment in Charlotte Street, Georgetown, almost immediately “hit the ground running” and ended up acing a bartender’s course.
What makes her an enviable standout is the fact that she knows what she wants, and goes after it with the determination and tenacity of a pit bull terrier.

That attitude landed her a place in the ‘amateur night’ at the Apollo in the USA, after beating the rains. She made it to round two in the competition, but an offer to be in the world-renowned ABC Rising Star competition in 2014 saw her shelving the Apollo competition.

Because of Lisa’s enviable persistence, the world heard of some of the realities of Guyana; and while some had issues with how she portrayed her homeland, it was her reality that saw even her haters warming up to her.

Lisa’s “power Punch” caught the attention of international weatherman ‘Al’, and he also rooted for this Guyanese-born, Brooklyn-resident girl. Unfortunately, she was knocked out of the Rising Star competition after raising the wall, but she caused many Guyanese to be united in their admiration for her and in their pride in the capability of Guyanese, when formerly they had ignored her abilities.

Even the nation’s then sitting President — the Honourable Donald Ramotar — celebrated this pint-sized Guyanese icon. The young lady who had quietly left Guyana for a new life in New York had come back to much fanfare after her dad and mum had been reunited in the USA.

I’ve known and interacted with this young lady in Guyana and in the USA, and I can attest that she is always humble but persistent; so I know for a fact that she is going to fly the Guyana flag anywhere she goes. And for that, she is Guyana’s rising star in the making.

This writer is confident that Lisa’s infectious laugh, her genuine personality, and her golden voice will one day land her on top of the world, so to speak. Already, she is on her way there. Based on what I know, as she always keeps me in the loop: 2015 will offer Guyanese a few surprises, music videos, and Lisa big recording engagements that will see Guyana and the world celebrating her every Punch.

Guyana loves you, Lisa! We urge you to keep the exclusives coming, as everyone is anxious to know how you are faring in the new land of your domicile. Best of luck, and God bless!

By Alex Wayne