Francine Black, STAR Reporter

Third-place finishers SLR gives it their best shot.

Fourth-place finisher K'Alee performs for the large crowd, which turned out to meet the Rising Stars at the Portmore Mall KFC branch on Saturday.

Many eager fans on Saturday swooped down on the KFC Portmore Mall branch to get a chance to meet the finalists in the Digicel Rising Stars competition.

The meet-and-greet series, put on by sponsors, KFC, started at the Oasis branch of the food franchise on September 6, and was well supported by fans at all four locations.

Tina Matalon, marketing manager of KFC, said the four-part series was good and well supported by Rising Stars' fans. She said the aim of the series was to allow fans of the show to interact with the stars. "For the first time, we were making it possible for the customers to meet the contestants. Most of them watch the show and never get the chance to see their favourites and we wanted to make that happen," she said.

Hope to expand

Matalon said the branches visited were in the St. Catherine and Kingston and St. Andrew area, but next year they hope to expand and allow fans in other parishes to have a similar experience.

KFC not only gave fans the opportunity to meet their favourite stars, they also gave away many treats, in association with other sponsors such as THE STAR and Digicel. Customers at the branch received a copy of The STAR with each purchase of a KFC STAR meal.

KFC also gave away two tickets to the final show of the Digicel Rising Stars to be held at Mas Camp on Friday.

There were also limited edition autographed Rising Star/KFC shirts and free toys, hats, Digicel credit, among other things, for the fans who turned out.

Kahlil does the 'Lightning Bolt' while performing during the Digicel Rising Stars/KFC Tour held in Portmore at the KFC branch in the Portmore Mall. - Nathaniel Stewart

Cameal poses with a fan, who received a complimentary copy of 'The Star' after purchasing a KFC STAR meal on Saturday.