INDIE newcomer Capsicum Records, home of “roots on the bottom, pop on the top” artistes Mistreree, Sledge, Cuban Cohiba, Mayyah Stuart, Burnie T, Sal Anthony and Natasha Redding, will sponsor the 2010 Excellence in Music and Entertainment (EME) Awards to be held Thursday night, February 4, in the Gardens at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston.

Modelled after the famed annual Grammy Awards, with all the pomp and pageantry characteristic of such a ceremony, and now in its sixth year, the EME Awards are the brainchild of renowned Hot 102-FM radio personality Richard ‘Richie B’ Burgess.

They emerged out of a need for an authentic and grass roots-based recognition of achievement in Jamaican music and entertainment.

Efforts are underway to make this year’s event the best award show ever staged on the shores of Jamaica. The overwhelming support and popularity of the awards are why they were relocated from the studios of Hot 102-FM to a venue that can accommodate the large following the ceremonies have amassed over the years.

The EMEs have garnered the full backing of the CVM Group, including CVM-TV, X-NEWS newspaper as well as Hot 102-FM and many other local media entities, with coverage also provided by international media like BETJ, and an endorsement from the Jamaica Tourist Board

“We are so delighted to become a part of this,” said Capsicum CEO and A&R director, Roger Meltzer. “It has concerned me for years that the winners of Grammy Awards in reggae and dancehall music are never even televised accepting these coveted awards. If we’re lucky, there might be a crawle at the bottom of the screen announcing those winners. It’s like achievements in our genre aren’t accepted as an authentic and legitimate music worthy of recording industry recognition despite its world-wide following. People forget that Bob Marley’s songs are played all over the world more frequenty than those of Elvis Presley,” Meltzer comented.

The awards recognise achievements in approximately 30 categories including DJ of the Year, Best New Artiste, Song of the Year, Voclist of the Year, Producer of the Year and Album of the Year among others. Winners are determined based upon performance in the Jamaica Music Countdown as compiled weekly by Richie B from the islandwide contributions of sound system selectors, night clubs, record shops and radio dj’s, as well as Internet voting on the emeawards.com website.

This year, Role Model Awards will be presented to the Legendary Toots Hibbert and Denroy Morgan, while the Special International Friend or Reggae Awardee will be India.Arie, who will be honoured for her embrace of the reggae music genre.