Festival Song Competition Finalists Announced

The eagerly awaited top-10 finalists in the Jamaica 60 Festival Song Competition have been announced.

The songs were presented to the public during a virtual press briefing hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport on Thursday (July 7).

The artistes and songs are Magic Flute, with ‘I’m A Proud Jamaican’; Interest – ‘Rock To Da Beat’; Dez I Boyd ‘Jamaica Sweet Again’; Orkid – ‘Diamond Jubilee’; Rory Stamp – ‘Bring Back the Love’; Inspiiyah – ‘Jamaica Nice Again’; Nazzleman – ‘Out of Many’; One 1 – ‘Sixty’; Sacaj – ‘Nuh Weh Nice Like Yard’; and Nitty Kutchie – ‘Defend Jamaica’.

Entries were reopened for one week, from June 14 to 21, to select seven new songs to be added to the three that were already identified by the selection panel from the previous entries, which closed on March 18.

The songs will be performed at a televised presentation show on July 14, and the competition finals at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston on July 28, on the opening night of the Jamaica 60 Independence Village.

Speaking at the press briefing, Portfolio Minister, Hon. Olivia Grange, commended the artistes for their support when the competition was reopened. She noted that more than 200 entries were received over the seven days.

Minister Grange said that the winning song will be selected by a combination of judges’ scores, and text and telephone votes by members of the public. Members of the diaspora will be able to vote via the Reggae Jamaica App.

“No one source can vote more than five times for the day. There is a cap on the number of votes that can be polled by an individual,” Ms. Grange pointed out.

She noted that each finalist will benefit from “equal exposure and promotion” from the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) and the Ministry.

Jamaica 60 is being observed under the theme ‘Reigniting a Nation for Greatness.’