The journey began in March with the first of four auditions interspersed with four road shows ending in September.

Since then, the 32 selectees have been undergoing intense grooming sessions in Montego Bay and Kingston, aimed at honing their talents for Thursday's semi-finals at the Tastee car park, Cross Roads.

Contestants will showcase their talents before judges Queen Ifrica, Michael 'Ibo' Cooper and Kerry-Ann Lawrence, this, with a view of making it into the December 12 grand finals.

prizes

The winner is set to take home $1 million, second place $500,000 and third place $150,000.

Sponsored this year by Tastee, Pepsi, T- Shirt Express and Kosmo Tours, the 34-year-old talent contest is noted for outstanding semi-final and grand-final performances.

Based on improvements made since grooming commenced on September 16, the judges will be hard-pressed to eliminate over 20 persons, in order to get the top 10 for December's grand finals.

The semi-finals will begin at 5:30 p.m., with giveaways by MC Elva, while the competition is set to begin at 6 p.m.