Journey to Fame
-Omaiah Hall, 2020 Junior Calypso Monarch
DPI, Guyana, Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Eighteen-year-old Omaiah Hall is the reigning Junior Calypso Monarch and the crowd favourite for this year’s People’s Choice Awards. Her journey to fame is an interesting one.
Coming from a family of musicians and singers, her love of singing came as no surprise. The wheels were set in motion when, as a young girl, she began singing in her church choir.
Later, Wilfred Success, Director of Success Elementary School, would help Omaiah emerge from the confines of the crowd.
“I have a history of singing. I grew up in church like most singers […] church choir, and I went to Success Elementary and Mr. Wilfred Success, he brought the soloist out of me. He found me in the choir and just put me out there [alone],” she reflected.
Young Omaiah would continue singing while pursuing her education until it brought her to compete in the Junior Soca and Junior Calypso 2020 competitions. “I was encouraged by friends and family to start a new venture in my life,” she explained.
At the official rehearsals, before the final competition on February 1, the singer said she had mixed feelings about her performances especially after seeing what she felt were excellent performances from the other contestants.
However, she resolved “to go out there and to have fun. To give a 120 percent and hopefully cop that crown for both Junior Soca and Junior Calypso [competitions]. When you win junior, you go straight into senior so I would love that experience […] to go head to head with the persons who have already made history.”
Her Soca entry ‘Proud of who I am’ speaks of her pride as a Guyanese witnessing her homeland observing its 50th year as a republic.
Unfortunately, her song and performance were not enough to impress the judges and the crown when to Relon Sumner, a visually impaired youth from Linden, who has been kicking up a storm, especially after his appearances on Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Company’s (GTT) +Star Competition in 2019.
However, the talented teen’s performance in the Junior Calypso Competition was enough to convince judges that she was deserving of the coveted crown and she won with 283 points.
“My Calypso is entitled ‘Tell me how come’. This song speaks about the questions that I, as a young person, want answered, because it’s coming up to elections season. It’s my first year voting, so I did a lot of intense research […] I need to know what I’m voting for.”
She was granted her wish as she moved into the Adult Calypso Competition, which she immediately qualified for after winning the junior contest. She placed third behind De Professor who came first and Young Bill Rogers in second.
Music has not been Omaiah’s only pursuit as she has modelled, written, and danced. And it definitely won’t be the last we hear of her as she continues to make her name in the music industry while holding fast to her dream of entering the public relations arena.