As it embarks on its 34th year, the Tastee Talent competition, easily Jamaica's longest running and most successful talent contest, has opted to return to its core value, that of placing heavy emphasis on unearthing and developing the best talents Jamaica has to offer.

So beginning next month, the new look Tastee Talent Trail will conduct four auditions at the company's head office in Cross Roads. In addition, there will be four road shows designed to showcase the selectees from each audition, which will take the form of a family fun day at the following locations Portmore, St Catherine; Ocho Rios, St Ann; Morant Bay, St Thomas and Mandeville, Manchester.

For 27 years beginning in 1979 the contest brought to the fore the best talents available on the island. This include names that have gone on to become very successful in the genre of their choice. In 2007, the contest added Pepsi as a major sponsor and became a made for television event where auditions were held across the island, and a television production made following the contestants from auditions through to the grand finals.

local television

In keeping with the times in 2010, the 31st year of the contest, an emphasis was placed on a reality segment of the Tastee Talent Trail which saw finalists being housed on a five-star hotel property where they not only competed in cabaret performances but interacted with each other. This immediately took the Tastee Talent Trail to the number one position among viewers of this genre on local television.

With the natural attention, towards the television/reality aspect it was felt that while the Tastee Talent Trail remained judge driven, the talent was somehow lost in the shuffle.

As a result, Tastee Limited decided to return the contest to its core value which has paved the way to establishing the Tastee Talent Trail head and shoulder above its competitors.

The impact of the Tastee Talent contest is not confined to talents only as since joining sponsorship with Pepsi in 2007, the Tastee Talent Trail has provided employment for scores of persons from the technical persons doing the filming and stage production to judges and day workers. Indeed, students from universities and high schools have earned valuable income to offset their expenses while being employed on Saturdays during auditions.

Conceptualised by the late Sunny Bradshaw to unearth talent and endorsed by Mr Vincent Chang, head of Tastee, as his way of giving back to the society, Tastee still remains the only free contest in every sense of the word. That is, free to enter and the shows which attract thousands yearly is still free to the public.