Remone Watson is Digicel Rising Star’s 19 winner and he says he will now try his hand at NBC’s Singing Competition “The Voice” in the US, in the footsteps of Jamaican singer Tessane Chin who won season 5 of that competition. “My next motive is to embrace [my] gift and have my gift soar and also represent Jamaica internationally …because I don’t think a lot of conscious music is coming from youths these days, so I think it would be something great to enter [this international competition] with hopes of winning and make Jamaica proud,” Remone told the Jamaica Star.
The 20 year old singer walked away with $1.5 million cash but he is yet to have a recording offer from a label unlike previous years, when that was part of the prize.
In the Competition’s 19 years, only two winners, Chris Martin and Romain Virgo of Digicel’s Rising Stars have gone on to have notable international music careers beyond the show, both signing to VP Records and releasing albums. Martin released Big Deal in 2017 and And Then in 2019. While Virgo released Romain Virgo RV in 2010, The System in 2012 which peaked at No. 6 on the US Reggae albums chart and Lovesick in 2018, his only No. 1 Billboard Reggae album.
Watson doesn’t have his eyes set on Jamaica however and he holds Chin in high regard calling her his vocal coach.“Tessanne has been my vocal coach, she has also been my mentor. I’ve known Tessanne since I was 11 years old, so we have quite a bond,” Watson said. He recently shared two photos on Instagram of the two now and when they were younger wishing Tessanne a Happy birthday.
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Tessanne’s rendition of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge over Troubled Water” during the Semifinal Round soared to the No. 1 on the iTunes chart, making Tessanne the first contestant that season to reach the pinnacle of the charts within the voting window. This performance also marked her debut on the U.S. music charts, securing positions at No. 64 on the Hot 100 chart, No. 14 on the Digital Songs chart, and No. 5 on the Heatseekers Songs chart.
On the Canadian Hot 100, the song entered at No. 39, then on December 17, 2013, her rendition of Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing” again claimed the No. 1 spot on the iTunes chart, making her the first contestant that season to achieve this feat twice.
In the subsequent week, her cover of “Bridge over Troubled Water” debuted on the Hot 100 at No. 51, landed at No. 12 on the Digital Songs chart, and secured No. 15 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Her duet with coach Adam Levine, a cover of The Beatles’ classic “Let It Be,” charted at No. 76 on the Hot 100 and reached No. 24 on Digital Songs. Both of these songs also claimed the top positions on the Heatseekers Songs chart, with “I Have Nothing” at No. 1 and “Let It Be” at No. 7. In Canada, Tessanne’s cover of “I Have Nothing” charted at No. 32, while “Let It Be” reached No. 35.
To top it all off, a compilation album featuring studio versions of Tessanne’s The Voice performances was made available on iTunes. This album made an impressive debut, securing the No. 4 spot on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart.
After ‘The Voice’ Competition
Tessanne Chin, the only foreign born contestant to date to win “The Voice” took home USD$100,000 in prize money, got OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder to pen a song, as well as a record deal with Universal Music Group/Republic Records. The record deal only delivered one album “Count On My Love” which sold 7000 units in its first week in the U.S., the lowest for any Voice winner at the time.
The album released July 1, 2014 peaked at No. 41 on the Billboard 200 chart and stayed on the chart for two weeks. The only album for the “Next To Me” singer to chart in the US. It had production from top music producers Jerry “Wonda” Duplessis, Willy Chin, Stargate, Shama “Sak Pase” Joseph, Chuck Harmony, Mark “Exit” Goodchild, MadMen Productions, Mitchum “Khan” Chin, Jamaican producer The Supa Dups, Johann Seaton, Terry “Maddscientist” Thomas (Maadroid Inc), Jevon “BabyBoy” Hill, Ricardo Rameshwar, Shaun Pizzonia aka Sting International, Toby Gad, Peter Stengaard.
Other activities in the subsequent days, as part of her post-victory media tour, included appearances on Live! with Kelly and Michael, Entertainment Weekly, and Access Hollywood. She told Fox5 New York that “it was a once in a lifetime experience”
To kick off the new year, Tessanne, along with runners-up Jacquie Lee and Will Champlin, performed “Tumbling Down” atop The Voice’s inaugural float at the Rose Parade on January 1, 2014.
She was then the headline act at “Shaggy and Friends” benefit concert in Jamaica on January 4, 2014. On January 25, 2014.
On May 13, 2014, her second single from the album, “Everything Reminds Me of You,” but considered the lead single from the album made its debut during the Season 6 semifinal round of The Voice, where Tessanne delivered a live performance then headed right into The Voice Summer Tour, visiting 31 cities in the US to promote “Everything Reminds Me of You.”
Still, “Everything Reminds Me” nor the follow up single “Tumbling Down” did not chart.
