Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia “Babsy” Grange, disclosed at this year’s Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) Festival Song Competition’s Road Show that stopped in Munamar Square in Spanish town recently that contestants in the Festival Song Competition will compete for a reported grand total of $10 million in cash prizes and awards.
Patrons at the road show were spoiled by the delivery of the annoucement immediately following an energetic Queen Ifrica set, as she ran through songs such as Below the Waist, Lioness On The Rise and Heroes.
“… I gave them a mandate that I want to restore the Festival Song to its former glory, as many of our international artistes came through the Festival Song Competition. We have ten good songs on the road and it’s not only about secular music, because we have a church choir and we are really happy to make the programme more attractive this year,” Grange said, as she did not disclose the amount that the winner will receive.
“We going to make that announcement closer to the final night, which will be July 15 at the Ranny Williams garden theatre,” Grange added that with the road shows completed, the thing next on the agenda will be a bandwagon across Kingston.
Patrons at the free event held at the Munamar square were also introduced to the remaining contestants, who performed to the delight of the large crowd.
Two former Festival Song winners have entered this year’s competition; namely Everton Pessoa who won in 2011 with ‘Oh If We’, has entered ‘Jamaica Formula’ this year; while Nazzle Man took home the main prize in 2016 and is actually the winner of the last staging of the Festival Song Competition with ‘Nuh Weh Like Jamaica’ has returned with ‘Jamaica A We Home’.
Click to Watch ‘Nuh Weh Like Jamaica’ by Oneil Scott aka Nazzle Man :
Click to Watch Nazzle Man’s 2018 Entry titled ‘Jamaica A We Home’:
The Escarpment Road New Testament Church of God Choir became the first choir to enter the contest with their ‘Strong Jamaica’ entry.
Tanice Morrisson, is an entrant for the very first time but seeks to become only the fourth woman in history to win the contest. ‘ Jamaica You Nice Enuh’, this year’s entry would follow Heather Grant, Cheryl Clarke and Abbygaye Dallas, the 1992, 1999 and 2012 winners, respectively.
The contestants who remain include; Couric ‘Kouriq’ Clarke with Lets Do It In Jamaica, Victor Richards with Jamaica Wi Rich, Jah Wiz with Hands On Your Heart, Rojjah with I Love Jamaica, Dennis ‘Mackie Conscious’ McKay with We Big All Around and Radcliffe Palmer with The Type of Jamaica.