Being defending champion carries some pressure, but for singer Ernel Earlington, there are no jitters as he prepares to retain his ‘title’ at the fifth Jamaica International Independence Foreign Song Competition (JIIFSC), scheduled for July 26 in Snellville, Georgia.

He and his band, Doxology, won last year with Jamaica Nice. They return with If yuh Love Jamaica sey Yes, which Earlington also produced.

“The difference with last year and this year is I am literally addressing the people, and one of the things I touch on, it’s a little too scary for most foreigners with what’s going on in this country (United States) and the government. But at the end of the day, Jamaica is still home if push comes to shove,” he told Observer Online.

Earlington and Doxology’s rivals in the 2025 JIIFSC field are Chawlih Crux out of Washington DC, Lisa Blackford, representing Virginia, IJAHKNOWAH and Lee “Priest” Johnson who are also based in Georgia, and Tania Lou from Canada.

The winner receives US$8,000 and a trophy, while the runner-up gets $5,000 plus a trophy with third place awarded $1,000.

“I’m very confident that I am going to win. My song this year is a Ska beat and that’s an original Jamaican genre. Lots of people kind of buried it, but I’m bringing it back,” said Earlington.

Originally from Kingston, the burly artiste followed his father Elijah into the music business. Elijah was a guitarist who played with acts like Ska singer Bobby Aitken, while Earlington’s younger brother Christopher won the Tastee Talent Contest.

Most of the songs he has recorded since he began recording during the late 1980s are gospel. Come To The Light, released in 1991, is his only album.

Jamaican entrepreneur, Dr Garfield McCook, started the JIIFSC in 2021 as a Diaspora version of the popular Festival Song Competition in Jamaica. It has attracted entrants from Canada, the United States, United Kingdom and Germany.