Three weeks ago there was an announcement by Minister Grange that there will be no Festival Song Competition this year. After much pubic outcry including from Prime Minister, Andrew Holness who said a way must be found to stage the event, the finalist for the Jamaica 60 JCDC song competition are out with a few familiar names listed on the song credits.
The 10 finalist were selected from a panel of judges according to a release from the Ministry Of Culture, Gender, Entertainment And Sports.
“We will remember that initially, the panel selected three songs, which was not a sufficient number for a competition. After that we decided to re-open entries and we received 209 new entries during the course of a week. After reviewing all the entries, the panel has selected 10 finalists,” Minister Grange said.
In a statement the Minister said she was “pleased” with the response to the re-opening of entries. “We have never received so many entries in one week”.
The Minister said the songs are being mastered and the recordings will be released soon. She has called on broadcasters “to play the songs so that the public will get to know them and be able to choose their favourite for Jamaica 60”.
The statement also said that, “the Ministry through the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission is making arrangements to put the finalists on social media and on global music streaming platforms.”
Among the names listed as producers are: Dale Virgo (Rihanna, Kevin Downswell), Ritchie Stephenson, Lloyd James, King Jammy(Sleng Teng Riddim), Gladstone Wright, Newell Morgan, David Luckain, Owen Renalls, Carl Morris and Christopher Tyrell.
The winning song will be selected following two televised shows on July 14 and 28. The song will be selected by a combination of judges scores and telephone voting by members of the public.
There’s a prize of three million dollars for the winning song to be shared among the producer, the writer and the singer.
See full list of writers, performers and producers below.
Jamaica Festival Song Competition
Since 1966, the Jamaica Festival Song Competition has been part of the annual Emancipation and Independence celebrations. It is the longest running original song contest in the island.
Past winners include Toots and the Maytals, Eric Donaldson, Desmond Decker, Roy Rayon and Stanley Beckford.
Most recently Buju Banton won the top prize in 2020 for I Am A Jamaican and Stacious won in 2021 for Jamaican Spirit.
