Festival song finalists energise Portland
The 10 finalists in the Claro Jamaica Festival Song Competition 2010 excited a rainy Port Antonio Square when the second leg of a series of road parties rolled into Portland last Saturday.
Joined by guest artistes Bescenta and Khago with backing band In2Nation, the finalists delivered an energetic performances throughout the night, which included hits such as Good Girl Gone Bad by Tarrus Riley and Konshens and Morgan Heritage’s Down By The River and Bob Marley’s Concrete Jungle in the warm up segment.
The ‘Energiser Bunny’, MC Jenny Jenny also added to the vibes and engaged patrons with giveaways and specials courtesy of sponsor Claro and Real Vibes Party Wine, while DJ Jagga created the party atmosphere.
Despite the rain, patrons remained to see the finalists performing their entry songs with Rockirie opening with Jamaica Nice; Kharuso performing My Jamaica; Deru with Nuh Weh Nuh Betta; Nikki Dillon with Di Land We Love and Marvillus with Welcome to Jamaica.
Edna Manley student, Jermaine Blake, representing the band Mojarock continued with his entry Reggae Music; followed by Papa Whyte with Zingy Zingy 2010; duo Amique and Nazzle Man with One Heart; popular comedian turned singer Winston ‘Bello’ Bell with Jamaican Deh Deh and Pertol with Island in the Sun, all delivering creditable performances.
Earlier this month, the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), organiser of the Festival Song competition, announced that the 2010 winner will take home a one million dollar cash package courtesy of Claro and a brand new 2010 Nissan Tiida courtesy of Fidelity Motors Ltd — the richest prize package in the history of the competition.
The last Claro Jamaica Festival Song road party ahead of the July 16 final, is slated for Saturday, July 3 at the Water Square in Falmouth. Other sponsors include Excelsior, Ting, Capital and Credit Merchant Bank, the CHASE fund along with several media partners.
The 2010 Festival Song competition is being hosted under the theme “True Jamaican Patriot” with the winning song set to be used as the musical theme for this year’s Independence celebrations.