Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange has announced the return of the Jamaica Festival Song Competition which will now offer a record prize purse of $10 million in cash and prizes.
Making its return, Jamaica’s oldest song contest will also have major improvements in its format and presentation, as well as the quality of entries, Grange said.
Grange officially re- launched the competition yesterday at the Twenty-Three Bar in New Kingston. “It will be a bigger and better Festival Song Competition,” Grange said, recalling that the competition had been a launching pad for the careers of several outstanding singers and performers. “It must become that again and fulfill the mandate of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission to unearth and develop talent. We can and must get the excitement back.”
The minister said that the new-look program was beginning with Thursday night’s launch, eight months before the official Jamaica Festival period and the announcement of a winner in July. Among the activities that will take place leading up to the finals is a series of developmental workshops across the country to address writing, performance and publishing rights, intellectual property rights as well as imaging and branding. There will also be a series of road shows and special appearances which will give the performers the necessary exposure and give members of the public the opportunity to get to know the songs and the performers.
Grange added that the organizers of the competition will be courting participation from members of the Diaspora in the selection of a winner, through the production of music videos, social media postings and live-streaming of road shows and special appearances.
Interim Executive Director of the JCDC Orville Hill said the agency was committed to executing a first class competition, which would boost national pride and spread euphoria across the nation during the independence period.
“Jamaica needs the Festival Song Competition and I am encouraging all the talent across the island and in the Diaspora to get their entries in because this can be a life changer for many people,” said Hill.,p> The overall prize purse of $10 million is to be shared among the performers, songwriters and producers. The sum includes cash prizes for the top ten finalists as well as other consolation prizes.
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