THREE-TIME Jamaica Festival Song Competition winner Toots & the Maytals is one of 10 finalists in this year’s competition scheduled to be held on Television Jamaica ( TVJ ) on July 15.

Olivia “Babsy” Grange — minister of entertainment, culture, gender, and sports — made the announcement on the station’s morning programme yesterday.

“Toots Hibbert, frontman for Toots & the Maytals, said his contribution to this year’s staging is called Rise Up Jamaica.

“I was encouraged [by friends] to enter because dem say dem want a good festival song. I’m bringing a happy song with wisdom, knowledge, and understanding for everybody,” Hibbert told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

“ Rise Up Jamaica is all about a natural vibes; telling people to do what they should do in order to live as one… It is all of us, as Jamaicans, to go back to foundation of natural things which will help us to carry on in this life.”

As for his chances of lifting the festival song title for a fourth time, Hibbert was not in the least concerned.

“I don’t think about winning. I just think of doing a good festival production which the whole world will be proud of,” he said.

Formed in the 1960s, Toots & the Maytals won the inaugural Jamaica Festival Song Competition in 1966 with Bam Bam. They would also secure victories in the 1968 ( Sweet And Dandy) and 1972 ( Pomps And Pride) staging of the popular contest.

In December 2019, Hibbert was presented with an inaugural Jamaica Observer Entertainment Award for his contribution to popularising reggae globally.

This year’s other Jamaica Festival Song Competition finalists are: Buju Banton; Freddie McGregor; Papa Michigan; dancehall quartet LUST; Shuga; actress Sakina Deer; 2018 winner Nazzle Man; Xtra Bigg; and Radix OD. The winner is expected to walk away with $3 million.

For more than a half-century, the Jamaica Festival Song Competition — organised by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission — has unearthed talent islandwide and has provided a platform for aspiring artistes and seasoned veterans to propel their talents on national and international stages.