Left: Kimiela Isaaca performs 'The Gift Goes On' along with the Barbican Baptist Children's Choir on December 4, 2005. Right: Kimiela 'Candy' Isaacs is determined not to allow visual impairment to crush her dreams. - JIS Photo
Kimiela Isaacs, one of 10 entrants in this year's Jamaica Gospel Song Competition, has set her sights on singing her way to stardom after being encouraged by friends to plunge into the annual contest.
The 25-year-old singer and songwriter, who is visually impaired, is a born-again Christian who has been performing classical songs and covers of popular music for the last 10 years.
Her entry, Reassurance, an original, is among the songs released on the album I Believe in Praise, sponsored by competition organisers, the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC).
"It's a great experience being on an album with a bunch of songs ... . It is really a great experience, especially when you hear your song come up and you say, oh my gosh, that's me. Every time I hear that song, I feel a sense of gratitude," she said.
Depression
It was about four o'clock one morning in February last year, during a bout of depression, that she felt inspired to write Renaissance.
"I was there thinking and the chorus came to me and I started to put the words together," she said.
"Mommy, mommy, I got the song! I got the song! You need to write, you need to write," Isaacs recalled shouting as she rushed to her mother's room to give her the news.
Raised in church, the songwriter said she was inspired by God to write the song.
"It was God who gave that song to me and, believe me, it lifted my spirit," she said with glee.
However, actually entering the competition with the song was not an easy decision for Isaacs.
"I told myself that I was never going to enter that competition, for some strange reason, probably because I had entered two times before, 1997 and 1998, and I fell out in the semi-finals. You know, I was a child then and I couldn't stand losing," she smiled.
However, she said, the constant pleadings from everyone, including relatives and friends, made her change her mind.
She vividly remembered one person telling her, "Don't bother with me, you know, you need to enter the competition and I done talk."
Isaacs was immediately touched.
"I don't know, it was something about his voice, because up to last year, believe me, I had said that I will never enter. Something about his voice, how he said it, he was so demanding and so nothing happens before its time.
"I think it was a God-arranged thing. So I said okay, I have a song written which God had given me and I thought, 'why not enter'?" she said.
Early success
Isaacs, who was born blind, said she started singing when she was just three years old, after her mother discovered her talent.
In June 1996, doors opened after she sang at a Ron Kenoly concert at the National Arena in St Andrew. Since then, she has received numerous awards and gold medals from JCDC competitions.
She won awards for the Most Outstanding Overall Female Performer in 2000, 2002 and 2008. She entered the JCDC's Festival of Arts Competition and received six gold medals and three trophies. Kamiela also entered the Jamaica Music Teachers' Association Festival Competition and got a Joyce Britten award for the Most Outstanding Overall Performer.
"I started voice training in 1998, when I received a scholarship to study at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. The scholarship was extended to 2002 by the JCDC," she said.
Her quest for learning did not stop, and she read for a diploma in performance teaching, graduating with distinction in 2005.
She studied part-time and obtained a distinction from the Associated Board of the Royal School of Music (ABRSM) after sitting the grade five music (theory) examination. She also passed the voice practical examinations with the ABRSM and received grades five, seven and eight.
"I got two merits and a pass," she explained.
"Being impaired does not affect my performance in any way. I think, being impaired, it pushes me a lot because I tell myself I want to be one of those impaired persons who stand up for Christ, stand up for what she believes in, never let her impairment hold her back. I don't see it as an obstacle, but that you can go out there and be an inspiration to people," she said.
Isaacs said it felt good to be ministering in song.
"When young people come to you and say, 'I love your song, I love your ministry, you really minister to me.' It feels good, it feels uplifting. You really want to do more," she added.
Behind her success is her mother, Diana Morrison, who has been supportive in ensuring that she keeps her appointments and sometimes rigorous schedules.
"She is 250 per cent supportive behind me. I have friends and they are supportive, but I don't think anybody could have taken the place of my mom. I tell everybody that I have the best mom in the world," she said with pride.
Morrison admitted that she keeps close watch over her daughter, who doesn't like to go "some places" without her. Isaacs' mom said her only worry is when her daughter is on stage.
"The part that is challenging for her is when she goes on stage. Others can see to use up the stage, but she is unable to see to do that," she explained.
Development and exposure
Morrison, who has been accompanying Isaacs on the islandwide roadshows since June 27, said she is her daughter's biggest fan.
"I'm feeling good," she said, claiming to be even more excited than her daughter.
"When you are on spot and you see the crowd swaying, it makes you feel that you are achieving something. With the gospel song here and the roadshow, I think that almost the entire country will know her."
In the future, Isaacs plans to release an album of about 12 songs. She also hopes to attend the Juilliard School in New York.
Every year, since the gospel song competition was launched in 1987 by the JCDC, it attracts more than 260 artistes, producers and songwriters.
Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Olivia Grange said the ministry was devoted to the development and exposure of the gospel participants.
"The album is just the beginning. As minister with responsibility for culture, I'm devoted to the continued development and exposure of the participants," she said.
Grange said the ministry would not only facilitate their exposure, but would also ensure they are equipped to get maximum returns from their talent.
"The Jamaica Gospel Song Competition is one of the avenues we are using to provide this type of training. At the end of the competition, all participants must be prepared to advance their career in the gospel ministry," the minister said.