Buju Banton Wins 2020 Jamaica Festival Song Competition
Written by: Taneika Thomas
The 2020 leg of the Jamaica Festival Song Competition ended on a high note with Grammy Award winner Buju Banton walking away as the winner with his entry ‘I am a Jamaican’. The Gargamel who coveted the prize award of $3 million suggested that the Sunbeam Boys’ Home will be the beneficiary. “The true winner tonight is the Sunbeam Boys’ Home,” he said, upon receiving the symbolic cheque.
The winning song will be used as the musical backdrop for the annual celebration of Jamaica’s Emancipation and Independence (Aug 1 and 6 respectively).
The Competition which is usually a showground for aspiring artistes, songwriters and producers to showcase their talents while invoking the spirit of the Jamaican people. This year saw more than 250 entrants and surprisingly featured popular names in the final 10 list such as Buju Banton, Freddie McGregor, Actress and Talk show host Sakina Deer, and Digicel Rising Star 2009 Winner Brown Suga. This year’s winners were decided by public vote and due to COVID-19, the competition was staged as a virtual event. While Buju Banton, Nazzleman and Freddie McGregor were the social media favourites only Buju Banton made it to the top three.
The Jamaica Festival Song Competition is the longest-running original song contest in Jamaica since 1966 and this year’s cultural showcase was one for the books. Entertainment and Culture Minister Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange who said that the event was being rebranded to make it more attractive and to return it to its former glory expressed her satisfaction at the “renewed interest, enthusiasm and display of patriotism”.
Past winners who have gone on to make a splash internationally are Toots and the Maytals, Eric Donaldson, Hopeton Lewis, Roy Rayon, Tinga Stewart and Nazzleman.
Here’s the ‘2020 Jamaica Festival Song’ 9 runner-ups:
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