A church mass choir, along with the other nine finalists, will be vying for top honours in this year’s Jamaica Festival Song Competition.

The top 10 were selected at a concert held at Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre in St Andrew recently.

The choir makes history as the largest group to enter and make it into the final round of the competition.

Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia “Babsy” Grange said she was pleased the competition’s progress so far.

“For over 50 years this competition has enriched our community of local talent with meaningful exposure, on a local and even international stage. We have made every effort to make this year’s competition bigger and better than before. This year we have seen a record number of more than 200 entries. That tells me that ‘Festival Song’ is alive and well. And we have pulled out all the stops to ensure that we have a record prize package of ten million dollars, so I am sure that success in this competition will be a life-changing experience for the winners,” said Grange.

The top 10 finalists are:

* Strong Jamaican written by Patrick Kitson and performed by Escarpment Road New Testament Church of God;

* Jamaica A Wi Home, written and performed by Oneil Scott;

* Hands on your Heart written by Karel Wisdom, M Bennett and G. Wright and performed by Karel Wisdom;

* The Type of Jamaica, written and performed by Radcliffe Palmer;

* Jamaica Wi Rich, written and performed by Victor Richards;

* I Love Jamaica, written by Sheea-Ann Hewan and performed by Roger Mendez;

* Jamaica You Nice Enuh, written and performed by Tanice Morrison;

* Jamaica’s Formula, written and performed by Everton Pessoa;

* Wi Big All Around written and performed by Dennis McKay, and;

* Let’s Do It Jamaica, written and performed by Courick Clarke.

Grange said the top 10 finalists will now participate in a series of performances across the country. This road tour will lead up to the competition’s grand final in July.