THE 2010 Festival Song finalists will be the main focus of the entertainment package lined up for the 84th Running of the RJR Communications Group Jamaica St Leger set for Saturday, July 10 at Caymanas Track in Portmore, Jamaica.

At a press conference hosted by Caymanas Track Limited (CTL), RJR and the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), David Reid, Festival Song 2010 coordinator, announced the participation of the finalists and described the partnership between the sports, culture and media agencies as historic and timely.

“Having recently rebranded, the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission is currently on a mission to forge strategic partnerships with a number of private and public agencies as we seek to pioneer and further develop Jamaica’s biggest brand which is that of “Brand Jamaica” said Reid. A grand entertainment package organised by the commission was announced by Reid, which will feature performances by the ten finalists along with some of Jamaica’s top entertainment acts.

Sponsored by telecoms giant CLARO and being staged under the theme “True Jamaican Patriot”, the highly anticipated 2010 Festival Song competition, launched in June has since seen the finalists performing at several road shows across the island.

The 2010 Festival Song Competition features the richest prize package ever offered in its’ 45-year history and will see the winner taking home a one $1-million prize package courtesy of CLARO and a brand new 2010 Nissan Tiida courtesy of Fidelity Motors Ltd. Other sponsors include Real Vibes Party Wine, Excelsior, Ting, Capital and Credit Merchant Bank, the CHASE fund and the KSAC.

The True Jamaican Patriot album boasts ten full-length tracks with vocal performances by Nikki Dillon (Salome Poyser) with Di Land We Love, Marvillus (Dennard Morgan) with Welcome to Jamaica, popular comedian Winston ‘Bello’ Bell with Jamaican Deh Deh, Papa Whyte (Eric Whyte) with Zingy Zingy 2010, Pretol (Phylbert Graham) with Island in the Sun, Rock Irie (Augustus Francis) with Jamaica Nice, Kharuso (Delisser McFarlane) with My Jamaica, Deru (Cleveland Cathnot) with Nuh Weh Nuh Betta, Mojahrock (Jermaine Blake) with Reggae Music and duo Amique and Nazzle Man (Christopher Herlington and Oniel Bryan) with One Heart.

The 2010 staging of the festival song competition is poised to restore and revitalise a sense of patriotism and nationalism across the island. The winning song is also set to be used as the musical theme for the National Independence celebrations schedule to kick off later this year.