Festival Song winner to be crowned this Saturday

July 25, 2025
Abigail Dunstan
Abigail Dunstan
Julene Clarke
Julene Clarke
Loaded Eagle
Loaded Eagle
Jonah
Jonah
Askia Livingstone
Askia Livingstone
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Ten dynamic performers are set to light up Emancipation Park this Saturday, July 26, at 8:30 p.m., as they battle for top honours in the grand finale of the 2025 Jamaica Festival Song Competition.

The winner will walk away with their share of over $3 million in cash and prizes, as Jamaica continues its spirited countdown to Independence.

Festival Song Committee Chairman Orville Hill said Jamaica should "come and be entertained".

"I think persons can expect to get good variety, great entertainment and, ultimately, I think we will find a song that Jamaica can rally around as we get into our Independence celebrations," he said.

The Jamaica Festival Song Competition, formerly known as the Popular Song Competition, is a prestigious musical contest established in 1966 to showcase Jamaica's rich cultural talent.

The highly anticipated showdown, staged by the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport through the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), caps off a months-long competition that drew more than 160 entries this year.

"The $3,000,000 prize is [divided among the] three critical components of putting the song together, which are the producer, the writer and the performer," Hill said.

"So it's intended to be $1,000,000 each ... because it takes quite a bit of creativity to come up with your writing, the producer to put it in its correct sound and, of course, the performer who will bring their personal style in terms of delivery," he added.

Hill said the selection process for the competition, considered a cornerstone of Jamaica's cultural calendar, was no easy feat.

"Once the entries closed, we held a two-day listening session with industry pros who combed through every single track. From that, we shortlisted about 30 for the semi-finals," he said.

Those 30 hopefuls faced off in May at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre in St Andrew, where judges trimmed the field down to the final 10.

Hill said this year's finale will be one to remember.

""We have a good combination of persons who are young and innovative as well as persons who have been in the industry for some time, and they have different genres of music that will come forward," he said.

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