Amelia gets instant record deal at Carousing

A totally new female act got the break of a lifetime when she was handed the mic at Carousing on Sunday night, and what transpired afterwards was just like a movie.

Amelia Naomi Ringrose, a 20-year-old Wolmer's Girls School graduate, was at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre on Hope Road in St Andrew for the last Dancehall Week event, Carousing, from early, dressed in itsy-bitsy attire and not even an itsy-bitsy bag to complement her outfit.

A call for dancers to take the stage saw her pop up, but she couldn't keep up with the pace and the emcee rushed her off. Determined, Amelia popped up again. This time, the emcee asked her what was really her game.

"Mi can sing," Amelia responded, and accepted the challenge when she took the mic.

She arrested the attention of the doubting Thomases in the audience as her vocals rang out on her original song, Don't Question Me, which she proudly "wrote in 10 minutes". Soon there were shouts of approval, gun fingers fired blanks on rapid, and when she switched from smooth vocals to hardcore deejaying, another round saluted her.

To show their appreciation, two men in the audience handed some money to the emcee, Bishop Escobar, to give to her. Escobar counted it for everyone to see - $10,000. That was the cue for others in the audience to dig in their pockets, and $10,000 quickly became $20,000.

More money, including US dollars, poured in. Amelia had no bag to put her money in, and her itsy-bitsy clothing had zero pockets. A member of the audience quickly took off her long-string purse and asked a Headline Entertainment team member to give it to a grateful Amelia.

And, it didn't end there. Escobar pointed into the crowd where the Frankie Music Production team was standing and announced that the outfit wanted to sign Amelia on the spot.

"Amelia is going to be a part of our team and we are elated," Shadaa Muir from Frankie Music told THE STAR. "Her voice is captivating and she actually reminds us of Sevana. We at Frankie Music are going to make great things happen for her, once she is willing to work with us."

At the end of it all, Amelia told THE STAR that she was "feeling hungry, but good".

"Mi get money. Yeah girl. Mi can go buy mi make-up and mi phone. And I'm getting a record deal. Yeah girl," Amelia said.

She is currently waiting on acceptance from the Alpha School of Music, and is hoping to tour the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts to check out its offerings.