JCDC goes on healing mission

Sadeke Brooks, Staff Reporter

The Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) is hoping that the festival song competition will help to bring about change in a country which was only recently plunged into violence.

"We are positioning the festival song as part of the healing process for the island, especially with the recent onslaught of violence in the island. We want each and every Jamaican to get fully involved this year," said Danielle Hopkins, public relations coordinator at the JCDC.

"We expect that it will be a kind of therapy for the nation. We hope that the songs will help to inspire a sense of patriotism."

In a previous interview with The Sunday Gleaner, Grace Silvera, executive director of the JCDC, also voiced similar sentiments.

"I am excited about the Jamaica Festival Song Competition. This is one of our marquee events which needs a greater thrust. We want to bring back those days when Jamaica rocked to the festival song and had this feeling of national pride and patriotism," she said.

The festival song competition started earlier this year with more than 200 entrants submitting their original songs on CD.

Afterwards, a listening panel of producers and songwriters shortlisted the songs based on originality and appropriateness of content. After the listening session, there was a live elimination from which the top 10 was selected.

However, Hopkins was unwilling to disclose the names and songs of the finalist before the launch of the competition on June 17.

At the same event, the Jamaica Gospel Song Competition will also be launched and the plans for Jamaica Festival 2010 unveiled.

Already, the contestants have done a series of developmental workshops which included wardrobing, speech, deportment and etiquette.

And, like the rest of the JCDC, the festival song competition has been revitalised and rebranded.

"This year we have made a lot of changes. We have sought some of the top people in the country," Hopkins said, noting that the work from the finalists would be comparable to any other musical product in the island.

Established links

The JCDC has sought the help of Clifton 'Specialist' Dillon, special adviser to Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Olivia 'Babsy' Grange. He will be responsible for the general direction of the album. He has teamed each finalist with a top producer in the music industry.

Established music video directors like Ras Tingle, Ras Asha, Julia Braham and Gareth Cobran will be working on the music videos for the finalists. The videos have already been shot and are in the final stages of production.

Charl Barker will be doing the styling for the album and the artistes. Andrew Grey is doing the art direction for the album, while William Richards is doing photography.

"The album cover is going to be something to behold. It will be nothing like the previous ones," Hopkins said.

The roadshows will start the week immediately after the launch of the competition. The shows will go to every region in the island but not every parish.

Like last year, Hopkins said the public would also be involved in the voting process through one of its major sponsors, Claro. Some of the other sponsors for the competition are Cooyah and Real Vibes Party Wine.

Fidelity Motors, which is another sponsor, will give the winner a 2010 Nissan Tiida motor car. The winner of the competition will also receive a cash prize of $1 million.