The Jamaica Festival Song Competition, Miss Jamaica Festival Queen Competition and the Jamaica Gospel Star Competition will close for entries on Friday, March 31, 2023, at midnight via the online platform and at 4:30 p.m. any parish office island-wide. The programmes which form a part of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission’s (JCDC’s) Entertainment Arts package are the most exciting and highly anticipated competitions that serve to unearth and showcase the creative talents of Jamaicans.
Persons interested in entering any of the JCDC’s 2023 competitions may do so on the organization’s website at www.jcdc.gov.jm. The JCDC encourages all prospective entrants to submit the highest quality entries to compete with the best in the creative and entertainment industries.
“The Jamaica Festival Song, Miss Jamaica Festival Queen and the Jamaica Gospel Star Competitions are signature programes of the JCDC and are key highlights of the upcoming Jamaica 61 celebrations. These premier programmmes have provided a platform for many of our talented Jamaicans to develop their talent and to contribute to national development,” said Michelle Naraysingh, Acting Director of Marketing and Public Relations at the JCDC.
Naraysingh explained that the 2023 cycle for entrants will be a part of history as the JCDC will be celebrating its 60th anniversary which makes it an even more exciting year of celebration.
A staple of the annual Independence roster for over five decades, the Miss Jamaica Festival Queen Competition is currently seeking empowered young women ages 18 to 25, who are involved in their community, culturally-aware, poised and are looking for a platform to make their contributions to nation building, while representing their parish as the next Miss Jamaica Festival Queen.
While the Jamaica Gospel Star competition, a televised elimination show that sees contestants trying to ‘out-sing’ each other with their favourite Gospel original or cover songs. The sing-off competition which allows an at home audience to vote for their favourite Gospel Star is returning to the Independence roster for the third season.
The Jamaica Festival Song Competition, which started in 1966, has helped to launch and advance the careers of some of Jamaica’s acclaimed singers and songwriters. Winners of the competition have included Toots and the Maytals, Desmond Decker, Eric Donaldson, Roy Rayon, Buju Banton, Stacious and Stanley Beckford. The Jamaica Festival Song Competition is the nation’s longest-running original song competition and the winning song will drive our upcoming 2023 Independence Celebrations, so entries should encapsulate the Jamaican spirit, generate public interest and patriotism and ignite the country, bringing us together to celebrate as one.
