Pepsi pumps 12 million into Rebel Salute

Leighton Levy, Gleaner Writer

There is a special buzz surrounding the next staging of Rebel Salute set for January 15, 2011 at Port Kaiser in St Elizabeth. As usual, there will be a galaxy of musical stars on show including Romain Virgo, Toots and the Maytals, Tarrus Riley, Queen Ifrica, Tony Rebel, Tanya Stephens, I-Octane and Khago.

There will also be an emerging talent on stage too. His good fortune came courtesy of Pepsi's $12-million sponsorship of the long-running reggae festival.

A refreshing new act, Noah was selected from among hundreds of contenders during a series of road shows that were held in Montego Bay on November 13; Negril on December 4; and in Junction on December 18.

This is all a part of the sponsorship geared towards the perpetuation of quality music in Jamaica and its importance to Jamaicans. "Music is important to our consumers," said Carlo Redwood, head of marketing for Pepsi here in Jamaica. "And Rebel Salute has always been a high-quality event with high-quality performances."

That was among the main reasons why Pepsi decided to partner with Jamaican music icon Tony Rebel. That, and the fact that the entertainer has always been about creating positive music, Redwood said.

A portion of the sponsorship money went into staging the Rebel Salute road shows that also served to build momentum for Rebel Salute, Redwood explained.

The remainder, he said, will go directly towards promotions, production costs and paying the entertainers, who also include Fantan Mojah, Chuck Fenda, Stevie Face, Nadine Sutherland, Spanner Banner, and AJ Brown among others.

In the lead-up to the show, Pepsi will also be running promotions in St Elizabeth, Clarendon and Mandeville. Redwood explains that wherever Pepsi product is being sold at wholesale stores and supermarkets at these locations, consumers will get the opportunity to win prizes, including tickets to Rebel Salute.

Of course, on the night of the show there will be a special VIP booth set up where specially invited guests and some patrons will be able to enjoy free drinks and engage in special activities during the show.

These special activities will involve local music, Redwood says.

• Rebel asks for birthday present
  
  

Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

Tony RebeL, who will be celebrating his birthday as the 18th staging of Pepsi Rebel Salute takes place, is asking fans to be present at the show as his present.

Launched on Thursday at the Wyndham Kingston hotel in New Kingston, it was a large turn out that came out to see what the signature reggae event had to offer for this year. Pepsi Rebel Salute will be held on Saturday January 15 at the Port Kaiser Sports Complex.

Hosted by Jody-Ann Gray, the launch kicked off with a lively greeting by Joan Webley, a series of musical performances from the R.P.M. Band, before Pepsi Cola Jamaica's Carlo Redwood made the title sponsor's contributions felt.

According to Redwood, music is the island's largest export and as such Pepsi was willing and able to support the stage show in any way. Calling the event the "most rounded" one around, Redwood explained that popular singjay Mavado would be putting aside his moniker for the night and performing as simply David Brooks - a treat for fans to see.

LIME Jamaica's Stephen Miller followed, announcing that for the first time Rebel Salute would be made available in the palm of music fan's hands through a live broadcast feed on LIME Mobile TV.

After a performance from Q Shan-Deya, the Jamaica Tourist Board's Howard McIntosh reiterated that Rebel Salute in its 18 years had been an incident-free event that the Tourist Board was happy to invest in.

According to McIntosh, this year the board has doubled its investment in the event, which was greeted by a rowdy applause from the audience.

Performances by Brahyan Art and Ibar followed before Andrew Holness, minister of education, spoke at length about the relationship between education and music.

He said, "I fully endorse what Tony has done, it is amazing. We have a Jamaican gathering where no shot nah buss, there's clean vibes, good entertainment and family plays a key part."

Performances for the night also came from A.J. Brown and Khago, who closed the show.