TelCell breakthrough competition is getting more and more exciting as the days go by. The 24 finalists who made it through the auditions on August 15 highly anticipate the night of September 26 to showcase their talent for one final time on the big stage. Whether that performance will be a song, dance or playing an instrument, we can't wait to see and find out who will breakthrough!
However, this week we are focusing on a very peculiar talent. One that is becoming very popular in today's society and is also associated with the hip-hop genre of music.
We speak of "BeatBoxing"
This is a type of vocal percussion, mainly involving the art of mimicking drums and sometimes other musical sounds – turntablism, bass lines etc - using one's mouth, lips, tongue and voice. It is connected with hip-hop culture and often referred to as "the fifth element" of hip-hop, but it is not limited to just hip-hop music. Thus the term "BeatBoxing" is often used to refer to vocal percussion in general.
In this year's Breakthrough Talent Competition, we are fortunate to have two young, budding BeatBoxers among the group of talents.
These young contestants are Paul Brown and Giovanni Richardson and this is what they had to say to us.
Paul Brown
"Hi! My name is Paul Brown and I'm 19 years old. I am doing the ICT course at NIPA to further my studies, so I can take that diploma as well when I go to Holland.
The talents I showcased were BeatBoxing and Dancing, but I got accepted in the BeatBoxing category.
If I'm going to talk about BeatBoxing, I can say no one actually inspired me. I just happened to love the sound of beats and I ended up mimicking them. I just kept practising until I reached the point that I couldn't stop whenever I started to BeatBox. For dancing my inspiration would be Michael Jackson and one of the well-known "Dubstep Dancers," Marquese "Nonstop" Scott.
Everyone gets nervous when the show is about to start. I tend to just change into a different character. I do a lot of performances, and so it's just normal to go on the stage for me. My contestant number is 22."
Giovanni Richardson
"My Name is Giovanni Richardson. I am 14 years old. Currently I attend Soualiga Collège, located on the French side. My talent that I showcased and will be performing is BeatBoxing. My inspiration, performance-wise, comes from "Doug E Fresh" and "Tom Thum." To calm my nerves I use a simple technique. I tell myself I have a goal and just stick to it.
My contestant number is 4."
Come and watch these two contestants perform at Maho Casino Royal Theatre on September 26. Tickets are available at both locations of Van Dorp and also at Adolphus Office Supplies.
