Orville Hill & OLIVIA “BABSY” GRANGE— PLANNING has begun for next year’s staging of the Jamaica Festival Song Competition. The 2018 installation should see a revamped and exciting event which will boost the nation’s spirit during the Independence period and beyond. Interim executive director at the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) Orville Hill said the agency has decided to move quite early with the planning, as every effort is being made to reposition and restore the competition … Read entire article »

  By NAN Staff Writer—   New York Police wants to know who murdered 18-year-old high school football star, Jamaican-American Tylik Allen. Allen, who was raised by his single parent Jamaican mother in Harlem, was gunned down while walking with friends near West 115th Street and Lenox Avenue on Saturday night, September 30, 2017. The star running back at KIPP College Prep, a public charter school in the south Bronx, was shot and killed while walking home from a restaurant … Read entire article »

Prime Minister Andrew Holness made the announcement while speaking at a press conference, under way at Jamaica House, to update the country on the government’s crime initiative. The police imposed a curfew in the area early this morning. The Gazetted Order of the declaration is dated Tuesday, October 17. … Read entire article »

Professional actor Owen ‘Blakka’ Ellis is widely regarded as one of the Caribbean’s top comedic entertainers. But many are the hats that he wears. The established comedian has been a songwriter, percussionist and backing vocalist for dub poet Oku Onuora, in addition to being an educator, author, playwright and multi-award winning actor/director throughout his career in the performing arts. Ellis is a partner in the recently established performing arts school, New Approach School of Performing Arts (NASPA), … Read entire article »

By Carolyn Kissoon Multimedia Desk—   Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward for information that can help in finding Jamaican national Terron Omar Chambers, who was reported missing on July 19. Chambers, 26, was last seen at his Kelly Village, Caroni, apartment at around 2.15pm pm on that day. Police said Chambers lived in St Katherine, Barbados, but frequently travelled to Trinidad. He works as an electrician and a promoter. Police said he was reported missing by a friend who said he … Read entire article »

 From Dancehallhiphop.com— Chronixx brushes off some recent controversies surrounding a video of him vibing Aidonia‘s hit single “Yeah Yeah.” The clip surfaced last week showing Chronixx and his friends singing and dancing along to “Yeah Yeah” which is one of the biggest dancehall songs this year. The video angered some of the reggae singer’s fans particularly Rastafarians. A rep for the “Chronology” singer told Dancehallhiphop.com that he is not concerned about his critics since he was just enjoying a … Read entire article »

BY DESMOND ALLEN Executive Editor – special assignment—   AS the nation celebrates its heroes today, researcher Joy Douglas says she has unearthed information showing that both the great-grandfather and the great-great-grandfather of Gordon Butch Stewart had significantly influenced the character and thinking of National Hero Marcus Mosiah Garvey during his childhood. Douglas, the current chairperson of the National Library Service, notes that Stewart, founder and chairman of Sandals Resorts International, is the son of Jean Patricia Stewart (née) … Read entire article »

Police are investigating the circumstances under which Reggae Artist Leroy Gibbons was shot and wounded by gunmen on Port Henderson Road popularly called back road in Portmore St Catherine this morning. Gibbons who underwent a surgery is recuperating in hospital. Superintendent in charge of Operations for the St Catherine South Division Leighton Grey says the incident took place at about 7:15 am. He explains that preliminary reports indicate that Gibbons was not the target, but a man with … Read entire article »

Karl Pitterson—  TODAY, 171 individuals will be conferred with national awards with the pomp and pageantry associated with this occasion at King’s House in St Andrew. Veteran reggae singer Bunny Wailer — who will be getting an Order of Merit, Jamaica’s third-highest honour — heads the list of recipients, which includes representatives from the arts, public service, science, and business. While we salute this year’s awardees, the Jamaica Observer’s Entertainment Desk will be looking at 10 acts who have surprisingly … Read entire article »