KINGSTON, Jamaica— The winner of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) Festival Song Competition 2021, will be announced on Thursday.

Twelve finalists are vying for the coveted title of the Festival Song winner in the grand finals of the competition.

The virtual event is scheduled to begin at 8:30 pm and will be streamed live on the JCDC’s website, www.jcdc.gov.jm, Facebook and YouTube.

The Festival Song finalists and their songs are Kevaughn Scott (Love Jamaica My Land), Desmond Boyd (Rumba Box), Lloyd Reece (Jamaicans Talawah), Grub Cooper (Unwind), Kimiela Isaacs (Birthday Bash JA), Anthony Martin (Jah Mek Yah); Dwight Allen (Real Talk), Errol Graham (Sweet Jamaica); Everton Pessoa (Celebration), Althea Hewitt (Jamaica Nice), Stacey Scarlett Bryan (Jamaican Spirit) and I-Octane (Land We Love).

Chairman of the Festival Song Committee, Orville Hill, has praised the quality of the songs submitted by the finalists, noting that any of the 12 entries can be the winning song.

“We have a very good set of songs, and I would not say that I can really select who the winner is, even at this point, because a number of the songs are very good competitors to be in the winner’s enclosure,” he said.

The chairman said that he is also pleased that several of the songs catered to a young audience.

“The rhythm, how it is structured, is more geared to the young people kind of music, which is an important part of the competition, because we always want to build and encourage that aspect of our society in aligning themselves to the competition,” he added.

He said that the JCDC had reached out to young producers and songwriters in the entertainment industry, as well as established artistes, to get them to enter the competition.

Following the selection of the Festival Song, Hill said that it will be promoted until the Independence celebrations.

“We want people to have some attachment to the winning song, so between now and Independence Week, we will actually be doing a fair amount of promotion of the winning song, so that it can then resonate with everybody,” he added.

He said that the finalists would not perform at road shows this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ban on large public gatherings to contain the spread of the virus.