Now that Jamaican Remone Watson has won the Digicel Rising Stars 19, he wants to recreate the success enjoyed by fellow Jamaican, Tessanne Chin, when she was named the winner of “The Voice,” the American singing competition broadcast on NBC television.
Winner of Rising Stars 2023
Remone Watson, a native of Hanover Parish in Jamaica, was announced as the winner of Digicel Rising Star 19 on October 1, 2023. Defeating nine other contestants, Watson won the top prize of J$1.5 million in cash but does not yet have an offer of a recording contract, something that had been included in the prize in previous years. However, Watson plans to participate in “The Voice,” hoping, he says, to represent Jamaica as Tessanne Chin did and make the nation proud. He told the Jamaica Star in an interview that “it would be something great” to enter the competition in hopes of winning, as he doesn’t think “a lot of conscious music is coming from youths these days.”
Bond with Tessanne Chin
Watson has a great respect for Chin and calls her his vocal coach and mentor. He has known the singer since he was 11 years old, he explained, and said they have “quite a bond.” Watson shared photographs of the two vocalists, one as they are now and one when they were younger, as part of a Happy Birthday wish to Tessanne on Instagram.
Success of Previous Digicel Rising Stars
Of the previous winners of Digicel Rising Stars over the competition’s past 19 years, only Chris Martin and Romain Virgo succeeded in having notable careers on the global stage. Both signed with VP Records and released popular albums: “Big Deal” for Martin in 2017 and “Then” in 2019 and “Romain Virgo RV” for Virgo in 2010, “The System” in 2012, which hit Number 6 on the US Reggae Albums chart, and “Lovesick” in 2018, a Number 1 Billboard Reggae Album.
Following in the Footsteps of Tessanne Chin
On the other hand, Watson hopes his experience will be more like that of Tessanne Chin, the only foreign-born contestant to win “The Voice” competition to date. She enjoyed considerable recognition and success following her performance of “Bridge over Troubled Water” by Simon and Garfunkel in the semifinal round of “The Voice.” Her recording reached Number 1 on the iTunes chart, making Chin the first contestant in the program’s Fifth Season to hit the top of the charts within the voting window. The performance was her debut on other US music charts as well, including the Hot 100 chart, the Digital Songs chart, and the Heatseekers Songs chart. Her version of “I Have Nothing” by Whitney Houston took the top spot on the iTunes chart, the first contestant to make it twice in the season. She went on to be ranked on other popular charts, and a compilation album of studio versions of her performances on “The Voice” hit Number 4 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart after its release on iTunes. As “The Voice” winner, she received US$100,000, a song written for her by OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder, and a recording deal with Universal Music Group/Republic Records.
Photo – Remone Watson’s Instagram Page
