FOR the first time in the show’s 10-year history, there were no expletives spewed from the mouths of entertainers who took the stage during Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest’s Dancehall Night.

“I think this is possibly the first dancehall show in the history of Jamaica, probably the world, that dancehall artistes have performed without using any expletives. And I feel really, really proud that we can bring the music to a level that does not put it in disrepute,” said chairman of Summerfest Productions Ltd, Robert Russell.

He was speaking with the Observer shortly before 5:00 am yesterday as Bounty Killer sang his last few tunes that would close the night’s show.

The island’s entertainers have served up expletive-riddled acts at various stage shows for years, but at last year’s Sumfest, the police were there with a video camera. Eight performers were slapped with summonses to appear in court to answer charges of using indecent language, and Sumfest organisers got a lot of flak from sponsors and some sections of the society.

This year, they laid down the law, holding onto half of all performers’ fees until after they took the stage. Anyone who “brought the show into disrepute” Sumfest has warned for almost a year, would not be paid in full. And while the first two nights of the show were expletive-free, the hard-core dancehall night was the ultimate test.

The entertainers passed, leaving show organisers breathing a sigh of relief.

“Now everybody can come and enjoy themselves — the children, the families, the visitors from overseas, and all the Jamaicans who are so proud of their music. And tonight we can all be even more proud than ever before. I feel really, really good,” Russell said.

But while he was hopeful that the change in format might be an indication of an even wider cultural change, he conceded that it would be difficult to move fully away from the use of indecent language at the island’s stage shows.

“I hope (this is a turning point in our culture), I really do hope so. But change takes time and there’s a certain amount of pain attached to change and people resent changing,” he said. “But I tell you, this has been a long haul for us and I think we’re really blessed tonight to have a show like this. And it’s incident free.

All the performers will get full pay, no question about it. I really feel good and I want to thank all the performers who performed tonight. Their performances were really fantastic, they all did well.”