Kadian Thompson and Verlando Small - Colin Hamilton photos

Sunday's staging of the Digicel Rising Stars final show was certainly a trip down memory lane with some of the past winners thoroughly entertaining the audience.

Nostalgia filled the TVJ studio when the first Digicel Rising Stars winner, Cavan, took the stage. He was followed by the 2005 winner Christopher Martin, who rocked the house with popular hits such as Cheater'sPrayer and Chill Spot.

Dressed in shorts, the members of One Third brought their harmonies, while 2007 winner Romain Virgo had the guests singing along and even making 'gun salutes' when he did songs like Don't You Remember and Wanna Go Home.

There were also performances from the first two female winners, Cameal Davis and Shuga. But the biggest surprise came from Dalton Harris, who introduced a new song, Pauper, to the audience and had them singing along before the end of his set.

More recent winners, Tash and Sherona Jonas, also got good responses from the audience.

With an hour of nostalgia done, the audience also saw performances from some of this year's top 10 finalists, including Unique 3, Shanakay Sealy, Chevy, Tish Brown and Kenny Smith. Ramian, however, lost his shine to Noddy Virtue who performed with him.

There were also performances from other artistes such as Alaine, who did songs like You Are Me and Shine Your Lighters. Assassin blazed with Hand Inna Di Air and Almighty Protect Me, while T.O.K did Shell It Down with much energy.

But the night really belonged to the top two finalists, who took the stage as it neared 10 p.m. Kadian Thompson did Rihanna's Don't Stop The Music, while Verlando Small did Cheerleader and I'm Coming. Together they also sang Just The Two Of Us.

Eventually, the saxophonist Verlando was announced as the winner of the competition, making him the first-ever musician to win the contest. He received $1 million, while Kadian was given her $600,000 cheque.

With a confetti-filled room, Verlando closed the show with an uptempo medley.

Shuga