Qshan gets 'Festival' fever

Vincentian singer Qshan Deya is among the finalists for this year's Popular Song Contest which is scheduled to be launched today at the Wycliffe Bennett Studio at the Creative Production and Training Centre Limited.

His entry, Everything Tun Up, was selected from 38 songs that made the semi-finals. Ten performers including two-time winner Tinga Stewart will compete for the top prizes later this month.

Everything Tun Up is a tribute to Jamaican resilience, with a big nod to the country's cultural and sports prowess. Qshan is hoping to gain mileage from the contest.

"Hopefully, it will maximise my popularity and let the public know more about Qshan Deya," he told The Gleaner.

The dreadlocked vocalist says he first heard of what was then known as the Festival Song Contest back in the 1980s when he was a boy on the tiny Union Island in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

"Cherry Oh Baby (1971 winner) by Eric Donaldson is my favourite song. My father played it so much, it was like a nursery rhyme," he recalled.

Qshan has been trying to break into the Jamaican market for some time.

This year he performed on Rebel Salute and was also part of RETV's School Tour.

It is not the first time an artiste from the eastern Caribbean has performed in the 'festival' contest. Trinidadian calypsonian Lord Laro made a couple of appearances in the 1980s.

Stewart struck gold in the contest with Play De Music in 1974 and 1981 with Nuh Wey Nuh Betta Dan Yard. His entry this year is Big Celebration.

The 2011 Popular Song Contest field is completed by: Change The Talk (Bunny Brown), No More Pressure (Charley Redlax), Start It (Rasmamaba), Bring On The Vibes (Marshell), Jamaicans Bright (Raheen), Jamaica Sunshine (Andy Livingston), Jamaica, The Land of Beauty (Mojo Herb) and Oh If We (Everton Pessoa).