The way of focusing on objects in vipassana meditation differs from that of tranquility (samatha) practice. Imagine a juggler. A juggler's focus is touch-and-go. The same is true in insight meditation. "Focus and forget it" is the motto.
The juggler has to focus in order to catch the ball. He has to know where to put his attention, and then keep his mind on that spot. While the next ball is coming toward him, he can't think about the last one. He'll fail if he's distracted by a noise or his gaze drifts away. The meditator, too, has to keep his attention in the present moment or he'll drop the ball— that is, become distracted from the meditation object.
Now for the "forget it" part: as soon as the juggler catches a ball he lets it go— otherwise how could he catch the next one? His attention doesn't stick. He keeps it moving, jumping from one object to the next. What kind of performer would pause to gaze at the ball he'd just caught, unwilling to surrender it because he liked the color?
Likewise, as soon the meditator notes an object he should drop it, or he won't be able to catch the next phenomenon. His attention, although uninterrupted, doesn't cling to anything.
If the same object— a sound, say— appears again after being noted once, the meditator might observe it a second time then let it go again, and so on. He would note, "hearing, hearing,hearing " in a sequence of moments, letting go after each one.
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