THE Macedonia Centre in Mt Vernon, New York, was buzzing with excitement on Saturday night as Dexter ‘Linkage’ Blake and his team paid tribute to artistes, producers, radio jocks, journalists, and comedians in the entertainment industry.

“There are so many people who work hard to bring life to the industry here in the USA and those people are never acknowledged, so I decided to do something about it,” Blake told a packed house.

A big winner of the night was singer I Octane who pocketed all of three awards, including Song of the Year and Entertainer of the Year.

Other award recipients were Tarrus Riley, who won the Male Cultural Singer of the Year; Beenie Man, who won Male DJ of the Year; D’Angel for taking the Female DJ equivalent, while Stephen ‘Di Genius’ McGregor won the Producer of the Year prize.

Meanwhile, veteran singers Ernie Smith and Freddie McGregor were inducted into the Linkage Hall of Fame; Shaggy won the Music Ambassador of the Year Award, while Anthony Turner won the Journalist of the Year Award — a category introduced for the first time this year.

Moments after accepting his third award, I-Octane returned to the stage for a short but spicy set which included My Life, that had fans pleading for more.

Other strong performances came from Ernie Smith, who took fans down memory lane with Pitta Patta, Duppy Gunman and Life Is Just For Living.

Freddie McGregor looked dapper in his tuxedo as he warmed hearts with Push Come To Shove and Big Ship, while Ed Robinson, D’Angel, Christopher, Papa Biggy, Kapa Chanty, and Chrisinti all gave memorable sets.

However, the performance everyone raved about was Iyahblazze. The House of Leeds artiste, about whom very little is known in these parts, commanded the stage and had patrons on their feet as he reeled off a medley of songs from his catalogue.

The event, celebrating its second anniversary, pulled out a number of ‘movers and shakers’ in the community and the entertainment industry, including Mayor of Mt Vernon, Clinton Young, crooner Dobby Dobson, and Morgan Heritage patriarch Denroy Morgan.