‘Views’ count as votes for Festival Song social media award
Published:Wednesday | July 24, 2019 | 12:35 AM
Members of the public who have already been singing along to this year’s Festival songs, will have the opportunity to support their favourite finalist simply by watching their video on any of the official Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) Jamaica Festival Song social media pages.
“Each ‘view’ and ‘like’ on the Festival song videos posted on the competition’s official YouTube page – JCDC Festival Song – and Facebook page counts as a vote towards the Most Popular on Social Media sectional award. This award, valued at $250 000 will be handed over at the competition’s grand final this Saturday,” Director of Marketing and Public Relations at the JCDC, Andrew Clunis, said.
“The Most Popular on Social Media award allows the public to make their voice be heard regarding their favourite song and finalist. And the finalists themselves have been steadily campaigning across the island, especially during our month-long, island-wide performance road tour and Kingston motorcade, connecting with the people as they spread the Jamaica 57 Independence spirit,” Clunis continued.
Online voting for the competition will end this Saturday, July 27, at 10 a.m., just in time for the grand final.
Beginning at 8 p.m., the free grand final will see all 11 of the competition’s finalists going head to head in a battle of performances on the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre stage in St Andrew. The winning 2019 Festival song will then become the soundtrack for Jamaica’s 57th anniversary of Independence.
The finalists competing for the title include Edwin Meyers; Jason ‘Iya Concord’ Wright; Percival ‘Dharma’ Lord ; Escarpment Road New Testament Church of God Choir; Nickoy ‘Shawn-D’ Green; Nester ‘Humility’ Chung; Vernon ‘Ramize’ Smith; Alero ‘Alley Bless’ Perrier, the energetic Raldene ‘Loaded Eagle’ Dyer, Meckedah ‘McKada’ Henry and Jerome ‘Jay Smith’ Smith.
The show will also see guest performances by Dancehall legend Bounty Killer, Zac Henry of Festival stalwarts, the Astronauts, and the reigning Festival Song winner, Nazzleman.
A signature programme of the JCDC, an agency of the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Jamaica Festival Song Competition started in 1966, and continues to serve as a musical platform for cultural exposition and for entrants to make an indelible mark on Jamaica and the world. The competition boasts past winners like Toots and The Maytals, Desmond Decker, Eric Donaldson, Roy Rayon, Heather Grant and Stanley Beckford.