Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

Keyshia Cole performing during the Miss Jamaica Universe 2008 Grand Coronation Show, held at the National Indoor Sports Centre (NISC), Independence Park, on Saturday night. - Winston Sill

An energetic Keyshia Cole rocked the National Indoor Sports Centre last Saturday night for the Miss Jamaica Universe competition. This was the American Grammy-nominated songstress' first performance in Jamaica.

Looking radiant in white, Cole took to the stage after 11 p.m. as persons within the VIP area and from the stands ran to the front of the stage eager to see the artiste. Some persons even climbed on stage as the security vainly tried to push the crowd back. With an arsenal of deep love songs Cole started off with Should Have Let You Go before going into Over and Over and Just Like You. Her powerful voice boomed throughout the venue as she danced along with her topless male back-up dancers.

Persons in the stands stood up dancing along to the songs and with the first notes of Give It Up To Me there was a deafening scream as some persons hoped to see Sean Paul who is featured in the song. However, the artiste was absent.

The biggest response from the crowd came towards the end of Cole's performance with songs such as Last Night featuring P Diddy and Let It Go which had many persons singing along. When Cole went into Lovethe crowd went fanatical as two women tried to pull Keyshia Cole off stage at which point security personnel rushed to the front. Cole was escorted off stage and her performance was seemingly cut short.