–in talented, stellar Lisa Punch
THAT talented little girl who won the Star Guyana Talent reality show more than five years ago, killing the competition with a cover of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”, cannot easily be forgotten. Boasting string after string of successes since, that singer, dancer, actress, model and radio announcer — Lisa Punch — can add a new award and a hot new song to her most recent accomplishments.
An upbeat retro-inspired pop tune which you’re missing out if you’ve not heard, “How we Party” was penned by Lisa herself, and is part of the “Happy Times” rhythm given to her to work on by Brutal Tracks Recording Studio. Unsure what to do with it at first, inspiration struck after Lisa’s three-year-old brother Lemuel started dancing enthusiastically to the track, and doing moves she didn’t know he could do.
The artiste notes that the track will also have a fun video accompanying it. Shot in Mojo’s Night Club located on Main Street, Georgetown, the video is colourful and depicts teenagers having fun without drinking. It goes with the song which says “I don’t have to drink to have fun, don’t have to smoke, just need my music”.
Recently, winning the Best Supporting Actress award from the Theatre Guild for her role in the one-act play “Shadows”, Lisa was also noticed for  her role in “Hope”, one of the batch of short Guyanese films that were previewed last year. Lisa explained that the story centres around the tragic love affair and eventual deaths of a wealthy East Indian boy and a poverty-stricken African Guyanese girl.
A teacher at the Kingston Nursery School, which was then located not far from the Guild, Lisa was introduced to the Theatre Guild by a friend, and she started going over in the afternoons. She was encouraged to audition for the role in ‘Hope’, and people started cheering.

Background
Born at the Georgetown Public Hospital on September 4th, 1992, Lisa is the eldest of six siblings. She spent the first few years of her life in Berbice before relocating to Georgetown. By 11, she was appearing on local TV shows such as Talent Exclusive.
At her alma mater, North Georgetown Secondary School, Lisa joined the school’s choir, where she was placed as the lead singer at just twelve years old. She entered the school’s dance group, called CYDANCE, and her dance teacher, Miss Beverley Cyrus, would later introduce to the school a drama club called Emerald’s Drama Club. She was made the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of that group.
She also represented her school in dramatic poetry and excelled, bringing away the first place trophies at children’s Mashramani competitions in Guyana. All first place winners in different categories were chosen to represent Georgetown, and Lisa was amongst them. She would always go and represent her region, and most times bring away the first place trophy. In 2008, she won Best Actress for the play called ‘The Concert’.
Following her Star Guyana win at 14, she was chosen to sing the theme song for CARIFESTA (Caribbean Festival of Arts). At 15, she joined the “Dance Alive” spearheaded by President of the African Cultural Development Association (ACDA), Eric Phillips, to help people living with HIV/AIDS.
When asked to join The Guyana Defence Force and Mr. Eric Phillips in the development of the children in Buxton, Lisa, only 15 years old, agreed. She helped children and youths as old as 19 with their music and drama skills. In 2008, she eased from her activities to prepare for her Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations, where she gained 12 passes and was awarded the Student of Excellence Award at the high school she attended.
She moved on to Bishops High School, where she became one of the lead singers, and graduated with five subjects.

Pursuing music career
Finally ready to fully pursue her music career, Lisa began to put together her own shows at different places in Guyana, so that people would know her as a performer. She went into the studio and recorded two songs, called ‘Secret Admirer’ and ‘My Inspiration’, which were played every day on local radio. With two songs under her belt, Lisa was getting called to perform at various shows in the country. Still only 17, she even got a job as a TV host at Channel Two on a programme called ‘Hard Vibes’. A song that really shows off Lisa’s stunning vocals was ‘One Last Time’. The song was composed by Lisa and her mother for her cousin Samuel who died of kidney failure when he was 16.
Stay posted for more from Lisa, already working on a new song, which she says is a song about believing. Lisa is working a big show, “Lisa Punch in Concert”, only a few months away. She will perform all of her songs as well as a variety of pop covers at that concert. She is also building her career as a radio announcer at NCN. Check Lisa out on Facebook, where she has an open page; or follow her on twitter.