A musical career that began in the church, has borne fruit for actor, comedian and recording artiste Slashe (formerly known as Iceman).

On Saturday night, he won the Jamaica Festival Song competition with the patriotic ‘Best in the World’. The song, which was produced by Donovan Germain, beat 10 other entries for the title and a cash prize of $3 million.

Germain is also the producer of the songs by the second and third placed winners, former Digicel Rising Stars winner Shuga (Dancing Same Way) and multi JUNO Award winner Exco Levi (Feel Like Home).

This was Slashe’s second time competing in the competition. He first competed as Iceman in 2004.

“I was encouraged by Donovan Germain, CEO of Penthouse to enter the competition. He felt I had the ability to be impactful there, so I wrote two songs, he selected his favourite and here we are months later,” Slashe disclosed in an interview with OBSERVER ONLINE on Sunday morning.

He recalled the moment when his name was announced as winner.

“Just gratitude, king. Just humility in soaking up the moment. Shuga and Exco Levi are my co-workers on the same label and to see us get the trifecta like that was heartwarming. They are my friends, and we all work tirelessly in the pursuit of our dreams so hearing my name called was the icing on the cake for us three,” said Slashe.

The grand finals of the Jamaica Festival Song competition took place at the National Arena in Kingston.