LeTonick won the third Jamaica International Independence Foreign Song Competition (JIIFSC) on July 29 with Jamaican In Mi. He topped six rivals for the US$8,000 prize.

The finals took place at Shiloh High School Theatre in Snellville, Georgia.

The artiste, whose given name is Leon Denton, is based in Columbus, Ohio.

Accompanied by his five year-old son Lionel, he finished ahead of Georgia-based Marlon Christy (Island Jamaica) and Ernel Earlington (A Jamaica Mi Bawn And Grow), who also lives in Georgia.

Christy was awarded US$4,000 while Earlington received $1,000.

“I feel humbled to be crowned the JIIFSC winner for 2023. I’m grateful for the opportunity to remind Jamaicans living in the Diaspora and in Jamaica of how blessed we are and how far we’ve come as an independent nation,” said LeTonick, a supply chain facilitator, who is originally from Freetown, Manchester.

Garfield McCook, the Atlanta-based Jamaican businessman who started the JIIFSC three years ago, is pleased with how the 2023 show turned out.

“The event was a tremendous success. We have been receiving rave reviews. The seven artistes came with great performances of their quality songs as they vied for the coveted prize. They had the audience rocking all night,” said McCook.

Wayne Hall, Twiggi, Kathryn Gordon, Roger McFarquhar, and Shauna Chin were judges for the show which is based on the popular Festival Song Contest in Jamaica.

More Jesus For Jamaica by Yvonne Johnson (Georgia), Jamaica 61 by Tania Lou (Canada), Island Life by Nikki Spice (Florida), and Play Ina We Yaad by Dex Daley from Florida completed the 2023 JIIFSC field.