In a pre-COVID-19 era, Digicel Rising Stars finalist Jodian Pantry would by now be putting the final touches to her annual New Year’s Day concert staged in Clarendon, ‘Gospel Tenacity’. The event won’t see the light of day on January 1, 2021, but Pantry is undaunted and refuses to buckle under the pressure caused by the pandemic. Instead, she has opted to go the virtual route, with a concert titled ‘Musical Conversation’, to be streamed on Christmas Day and again on December 26. And, as usual, she has the support of her wide circle of friends in the music industry.
For this concert, Pantry has assembled an interesting mix of entertainers, including an aggregation of former Digicel Rising Stars (DRS) competitors. Among them are Rising Stars and ‘X-Factor’ winner Dalton Harris; Sherlon Russel, 2019 DRS winner; Jody-Kay James, 2015 DRS winner; Nickeisha Barnes, DRS finalist; OMI, Jamila Falak, Sheldon Shepherd of No-Maddz, George Nooks and 12-year-old Maylyn Dillon. Also advertised is another DRS finalist, Lenya Wilks, who now resides in Canada, but sadly, she was unable to record her performance owing to tightened COVID-19 restrictions in that country.