"Legacy's Got Talent" music competition kicks off Saturday in Belmopan

LYM as its commonly known or Legacy Youth Ministries started some six years ago and has been growing ever since. LYM is a Christian-based youth conference that is held three times a year, in which young people from across the country gather together for a weekend of worship, teaching and fellowship. The conference which is geared at impacting and equipping young people with truth and skills to impact their generation positively, saw the participation of some 400 young people in its March session. Birthed out of LYM is Legacy's Got Talent, a musical competition displaying the musical talents of a variety of young artists who are a part of LYM. One of the coordinators for Legacy's Got Talent is Mervin Budram; he told us how the competition got started.

Mervin Budram, Coordinator, Legacy's Got Talent
Legacy's Got Talent got started when a group of us observed at Legacy Conferences that we have been having that the young people are very talented and they have a lot of awesome abilities. We normally have at the end of our Legacy Youth Conference, a jam night. We have observed the young people coming up and expressing their talents and they just really wowed us and we wanted to create a place for them to showcase and develop and to continue furthering those artistic expressions.

Budram explained that there was a previous competition, where quite a few contestants entered their original songs for fans to vote on. From that selection came fourteen finalists who will perform their songs on the show.

Mervin Budram
The show will feature fourteen finalists and ten songs. It will showcase the journey that the young people went on from the beginning to this point. It will showcase their talents and also their story in songs, music and also drama. We will also have the Panariphic Steal Band to entertain us and Donna Neal, the Duets Winner from the last Duets Competition. We will also have a dramatic dance. So the weekend will be one that you have never experienced before; the atmosphere will feel different; you will feel like you are in a different location and a different place. I don't want to give too much of it away because I want you all to come out and experience it. It is going to be for families and for young people of all ages who love and appreciate art and talent.

One of the contestants being featured on the show, Paul Lopez, appeared on Rise and Shine this morning and told us what the audience can expect.

Paul Lopez, Contestant
You can expect a variety of genre of music; you have from techno going straight down to dancehall to R&B and to Hip-Hop. Besides that, you can expect some well prepared performances with drama included. We had a practice Monday night and when I went to the practice, I actually felt like I was at the show already, because of the way the young people were presenting their songs and their ideas and the flow and I was like whoa. I was just so glad and blessed to be a part of what was taking place. So come out and hear how these young people actually express their talents and their beliefs and express their way of life through music. It is a wonderful thing to hear how young people experience their ways and talents through music, to the point that you will want to be there and sit down and listen to them.

On this morning's show, hosts and guests spoke about the impact that Legacy Youth Ministries has had on the artists and on young people on a whole.

Louis Wade Jr.
Music is only one of the areas and I remember going to Legacy and sharing; I was there preaching and I spoke about the Coat of Many Colors. I did a message on that and by the next morning when I went there, there was a song that was already made on the Coat of Many Colors. It was very powerful. I think it probably did more in taking the message across to the young people than the actual message did, because it just brought it in a way that was so powerful.

Pastor Scott Stirm
I think a part of the whole thing with this too is kind of the sense of destiny, in terms of what we are born for, for the young people and creating a slot for them to be able to raise up. Even for those that are in business, realizing that God has out you in a place of influence to be able to bring forth change in or nation and that's what it's all about. It's all about helping people to be able to step forward and say that we can do something about these areas and bring forth change.

Patrick Jason Andrews
I always tell parents that once they send the young people to Legacy, we will teach them that they need to be vocal and that they need to strive for excellence. We will teach them that they must be concerned about every aspect that is happening in our society, because Belize is our nation and so I am upfront with all parents that when their young people come to Legacy, they will be taught that they need to be vocal. They can't live in Belize and not be concerned about social issues.

The family-oriented show gets underway this Saturday at 7pm at the University of Belize Gymnasium in Belmopan. Tickets can be purchased at Formosa Caf�, Covenant Book Store, TAS Belize and Pross Computers in Belmopan, Creation Gift Store and Faith Arthurs in Belize City, Habet and Habet store in Dangriga, Cayo Adventure Tours in San Ignacio or at the door. Tickets are $20.00 each with an LGT CD featuring the finalists or $10.00 without the CD.

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